Salt Lake City, UT -- (ReleaseWire) -- 01/16/2020 --Local Utah artists are using their talent and teaming with clinicians from the Intermountain Healthcare Heart Institute and the American Heart Association Utah Division to raise awareness about women and their risk of heart disease – the leading killer of women in Utah and the United States.

Five Utah artists have created original paintings around the theme of women and heart disease to raise awareness about the impact of the disease and to encourage women to learn more about symptoms, risk factors, and other preventative steps to reduce their risk of heart disease.

Intermountain commissioned the original works of art to help bring awareness to the number one killer of women in the United States: heart disease.

The paintings were unveiled with clinicians and heart disease patients and survivors at a special kickoff ceremony at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray on Tuesday. They will be on display for a few days at the hospital and then go on a statewide tour where they will be on display in communities throughout Utah to help raise awareness.

During a short program today, heart failure patients Kayla Decker, who is being kept alive on a left ventricular heart pump while awaiting a donor heart to become available – talked about her challenges with heart disease and one of the artists – Theresa Otteson –shared what inspired her work of art.

Despite increases in awareness over the past decades, only about half (56%) of women recognize that heart disease is their leading killer, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States, killing nearly 300,000 women—or about 1 in every 4 female deaths.

Heart disease is also the leading cause of death for African American and white women in the United States. Among American Indian and Alaska Native women, heart disease and cancer cause roughly the same number of deaths each year. For Hispanic and Asian or Pacific Islander women, heart disease is second only to cancer as a cause of death, according to the CDC.

About 1 in 16 women age 20 and older (6.2%) have coronary heart disease, the most common type of heart disease.

In early March, the art collection will be displayed at the American Heart Association Utah Division's Go Red for Women luncheon. The artwork of will then be sold at a silent auction at the event.

The artists and their paintings:

Theresa Otteson
Artwork Title:Perfect Woman

Sandra Rast
Artwork Title:Take My Hand

Lindsay Huss
Artwork Title:Embedded

Ken Harris
Artwork Title:Hope's Return

Vicky Lowe
Artwork Title:"Vi xi a wota'n?" (How is your heart?)

Statewide Artwork Tour Schedule:
January 14 - 17 | Intermountain Medical Center
January 17 - 22 | Logan Regional Hospital
January 22 - 27 | HEAL Yoga Studio
January 27 - 31 | McKay Dee Hospital
January 31 - February 6 | Mountain America Expo Center (Tentative)
February 7 | Utah State Capitol
February 8 - 13 | Eccles Theatre (Tentative)
February 13 - 19 | Adobe
February 19 - 25 | Utah Valley Hospital
February 25 - March 4 | Dixie Regional Hospital
March 6 | Go Red for Women luncheon at the Grand America Hotel

Intermountain Healthcare is a not-for-profit system of 24 hospitals, 215 clinics, a Medical Group with 2,500 employed physicians and advanced practice clinicians, a health insurance company called SelectHealth, and other health services in Idaho, Utah, and Nevada. Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare by using evidence-based best practices to consistently deliver high-quality outcomes and sustainable costs. For more information, see intermountainhealthcare.org.