The Origin Story

Long-time friends and artistic collaborators Anne Basting and Jessica Meuninck-Ganger hadn’t seen each other in a month of Sundays. So they arranged to get together - and Jessica said “Let’s do it at my house - I’m caring for my mom on hospice and can’t leave the house for more than 30 minutes.”

So one July afternoon, they sat on Jessica’s deck, sipped iced tea, nibbled on cheese (it is Wisconsin afterall), and talked and talked — of adventures in hospice care (Jessica); of adventures in dementia care (Anne), of adventures in life as professors and artists (both).

At the end, as Jessica walked Anne to her car, she said:

“You know, when this is all over, I’m going to have so much knowledge and no one to give it to. I wish there was a shower you could give someone who is starting to care for someone - I could give them ALL this knowledge.”

We both stopped. And stood in silence.

Anne has 30 years of experience in theater and ritual. Jessica is a print maker / book artist, and was curating a show called the Aesthetics of Loss.

“We are totally going to do this,” said Anne.

And thus began weeks of obsessive research on the origins of, rituals behind, and commercial support structures for both baby and wedding showers. Anne bought a card rack from a woman in Oshkosh who had closed her gift shop (thank you Facebook Marketplace), and who, it turned out, was leading grief workshops for her church.

The first Care Shower was performed in “honor of” Anne and hosted by Jessica, with about 25 people attending it in the galleries of the Art Lit Lab in Madison, WI in July 2023 as part of the Aesthetics of Loss exhibit. The second was held November 4th in St. Paul at St. Catherine’s University Galley, again alongside the opening of the Aesthetics of Loss.

Below, Anne and Jessica recreate the “origin” aha moment - we are going to make Care Showers! (in the gallery of the Art Lit Lab, Madison, WI, July 2023).