Rye designer hosts live dress painting to raise awareness for long Covid

(COLORADO SPRINGS) — What started as impulsive art therapy has led to the creation of a nonprofit. AnaKacia Shifflet , a dress designer from Rye, painted her first dress during the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic when emotions were running high.

“I was just so overwhelmed with everything, not only with the shutdown but with my business, with having to homeschool kiddos, and then also because I had been sick on top of that and was trying to figure out what was going on with me as well and just all these crazy emotions,” said Shifflet. “So I thought I’m going to throw paint at a wedding gown because that’s what I do is design wedding gowns.”

In a surprising twist, Shifflet ended up loving the result. “I thought I would hate it, I thought it would be just this big mess but I absolutely loved it.”

One dress led to many more and Shifflet is now building a collection of painted dresses and raising awareness about Long Covid in the process. She was diagnosed with Long Covid in 2021 after dealing with symptoms for over a year and spent months confined to her bed after contracting Covid again in 2022. She has since written a book called “Throwing Paint” detailing her experience and said she wants to be a voice for others suffering from chronic illness.

Shifflet is doing a live dress painting that is open to the public on Thursday, June 6 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Academy Art & Frame at 7650 North Academy Boulevard. The dress will be on display, along with her first painted dress, at Academy Art & Frame until Friday, June 28.

Learn more about Shifflet’s mission, work, and nonprofit at her website averilmarie.com.

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