Simpsononymous - An Edible Art Mashup For a Cure

Hicksville resident Jean Schapowal is an amazing woman. This powerhouse, who owns a thriving cake business, is a bookkeeper for a family business, graphic artist, a mom, wife, and busy member of Woodland PTA, also participates in cake decorating competitions throughout the country. She’s also been a part of quite a few cake collaborations over the past two years. But the most amazing thing about her is that she has organized a worldwide event that is currently taking place on Facebook. Let me elaborate.

A lover of comic book art and a fan of the Fox Network show, “The Simpsons”, Jean came up with the idea of organizing her own cake collaboration. The event would coincide with the premier of the show’s 25th Anniversary special, which aired last night. She spoke with some of her fellow cake and sugar artists; together, they came up with the idea of having a cake collaboration that would also feature some art styles and famous works of art. The catch - each piece entered in the collaboration would feature a character from the beloved TV show.

Jean had found out that the co-creator of ”The Simpsons”, Sam Simon, was diagnosed with colon cancer and was given a poor prognosis. She also discovered that he had donated his money to his foundation, The Sam Simon Foundation, which is dedicated to rescuing animals. The foundation also provides visitation services for the infirmed, hearing dogs and service dogs, as well as offers animals for adoption. Because of his humanitarian efforts, Jean wanted to dedicate the collaboration to Sam. And so, Simpsononymous was born.

For several months, Jean contacted sugar and cake artists to see who wished to participate; represented are artists from Canada, the UK, Australia, and various parts of the United States. A drawing was held to divvy out characters; the artists then chose a famous work of art to create out of sugar or cake. On August 31st, previews of the works were seen on the Facebook page that Jean created, and were finally made public at 12 am yesterday morning. There is an Instagram presence, and the site is represented on Twitter as well. Jean’s website, which is Simpsononymous.com, also features more of her efforts; Jean contacted cancer agencies and support groups from around the country to feature their links on her website. Every group was happy to participate. You see, Jean’s husband is a colon cancer survivor. At the time of his diagnosis, Jean was a very young mother of an infant, and felt that there was nowhere for her to turn for support. It is her strongest hope that the collaboration will help to educate others on colon cancer awareness, as well as to help point the way for those diagnosed and their families to find resources to help. Of special note is the fact that, during the entire process, Jean found time to create a t-shirt for each of the participants, and placed the blue “colon cancer” ribbon on the shirt to help raise even more awareness.

If you want to see some truly amazing pieces of art, formed from sugar, fondant and cake, please visit Jean’s website at Simpsononymous.com. The collaboration, which was done voluntarily by each and every entrant, is a true work of love. You are able to vote for your favorite piece, and although there will be no award for the “winner”, the participation in something so monumental is truly its own reward.