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The Maestro of Your Childhood, Muriel Fahrion, says Black Lives Matter
You may not know her name, but Muriel Fahrion of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been a formative part of children’s lives for generations now.
Fahrion, 76, has led quite a quiet life behind in the shadows of her most iconic creations- The Care Bears, Strawberry Shortcake & Friends, The GetAlong Gang as well as many other memorable characters she created for or licensed to companies like American Greetings, who still sell Care Bear merchandise nearly 40 years after. Although several artists are credited with painting the Care Bears over the years, it was Fahrion who, having already helped create the unmistakable look of Strawberry Shortcake, was among the franchise’s first concept artists to put the bears to paper.
It wasn’t until this year when Fahrion’s son, Colin, announced to the world that Fahrion, a staunch supporter of civil rights and equality, had created a “Black Lives Matter” Care Bear and “Orange Blossom” from the Strawberry Shortcake family that she was selling through her Redbubble Store with proceeds going to the Reed Foundation, a Black founded organization which proves assistance to disadvantaged youth in her home town.