Thanks for commenting Daniel. I subscribed to your Substack. Congrats on your new venture! I love your profile photo with your apron on. Naturally I am glad you are taking up letterpress. You should send me the scraps for collage material!
My mother painted to paint. She loved painting. She used to participate in the annual Westheimer Art Festival in Houston. It was fun for her if she sold a piece of art, but she also enjoyed the camaraderie with other artists and festival goers. She never made a lot of money, but that was not her drive. When she passed away, my brother and I picked the pieces we wanted (we already had a lot) and invited family and friends to come and pick something. A lot of her art fills our house and we love it. It was a true legacy she left for me, my brother and our families.
Good interview! My only question to you would be if you are philanthropic and, if so, what organizations do you support?
Thanks for commenting Lynn. My philanthropic impulse is focused on the collage art community for the most part. This publication is a philanthropic effort to offer encouragement and what wisdom I wish I had received at an early age. I support the publications for collage art: Kolaj and Contemporary Collage Magazine. I have organized a lot of exhibitions for artists over the years and published catalogs and create opportunities for artists to participate in and I collect art as a record of the community. I was a foster parent for a couple of years to 7 sexually abused children some years ago., etc. and so on. Recently I took in an artist staying at a homeless shelter that was a stranger and helped him get back on his feet for about 4 months or so as if he was my own kid. I am kind of a hands on type philanthropist if you want to call it philanthropy. Beyond that I don't really support organizations. To me that seems like something people do to wash their hands of the life around them and leave the direct work to others. We are all in the wonderous mess together.
Thanks for responding and I did not mean to imply that only $$$ equal philanthropy. From your answer, you have given a LOT to help others. I should have been clearer in my wording.
What was your intended question? Or what inspired you to ask? I do think about those things - the good of the community and so forth and the endlessness of the needs of so many of us. When you asked, it made me ask myself the question and think about the idea of philanthropy.
I was just curious as to what artists, like you, support philanthropically. As a former long time professional fundraiser, I guess it is something I never stop thinking about even though I am retired. Philanthropy to me comes in many different forms: time, treasures and/or talent. I have known of artists who donate a painting (or other form of art) to an organization so that it can be bid on in a silent or live auction, with the proceeds going to the organization. I have artistic friends, but have never asked them this question as I know being philanthropic is not at the top of the list for many people. Many people only associate "giving" of their time, talent and treasures with their church, but there are so many other organizations that need people to volunteer (time), donate money (treasures) and share their talent (whatever that may be, from creating art, to gardening, to helping at shelters (both human and animal), etc.
Oh, yes I have done a lot of that kind of arts philanthropy over the years raising money for museums in Texas and California. Volunteered for whole school year doing an afterschool drawing program for elementary school kids in a poor neighborhood that didn't have an arts program on my own dime. That was fun. Stuff like that. Buy or trade art from other artists. I pretty much stick to the arts.
"Get into galleries." Yeah.......easier said than done. I think that might happen once I'm dead if my adult kids can manage it. Otherwise.........well I'll be gone so why worry what happens to my hundreds of art pieces anyway. If there's life after death I'll be flying around the Universe exploring space.
This all seems like excellent advice. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Thanks for commenting Daniel. I subscribed to your Substack. Congrats on your new venture! I love your profile photo with your apron on. Naturally I am glad you are taking up letterpress. You should send me the scraps for collage material!
Thank you! (Though it's now a “new-ish” venture, I started in 2020.)
I would love to send you some pieces sometimes 🙂
I'm looking forward to seeing more of your writing and work here!
My mother painted to paint. She loved painting. She used to participate in the annual Westheimer Art Festival in Houston. It was fun for her if she sold a piece of art, but she also enjoyed the camaraderie with other artists and festival goers. She never made a lot of money, but that was not her drive. When she passed away, my brother and I picked the pieces we wanted (we already had a lot) and invited family and friends to come and pick something. A lot of her art fills our house and we love it. It was a true legacy she left for me, my brother and our families.
Good interview! My only question to you would be if you are philanthropic and, if so, what organizations do you support?
Thanks for commenting Lynn. My philanthropic impulse is focused on the collage art community for the most part. This publication is a philanthropic effort to offer encouragement and what wisdom I wish I had received at an early age. I support the publications for collage art: Kolaj and Contemporary Collage Magazine. I have organized a lot of exhibitions for artists over the years and published catalogs and create opportunities for artists to participate in and I collect art as a record of the community. I was a foster parent for a couple of years to 7 sexually abused children some years ago., etc. and so on. Recently I took in an artist staying at a homeless shelter that was a stranger and helped him get back on his feet for about 4 months or so as if he was my own kid. I am kind of a hands on type philanthropist if you want to call it philanthropy. Beyond that I don't really support organizations. To me that seems like something people do to wash their hands of the life around them and leave the direct work to others. We are all in the wonderous mess together.
Thanks for responding and I did not mean to imply that only $$$ equal philanthropy. From your answer, you have given a LOT to help others. I should have been clearer in my wording.
What was your intended question? Or what inspired you to ask? I do think about those things - the good of the community and so forth and the endlessness of the needs of so many of us. When you asked, it made me ask myself the question and think about the idea of philanthropy.
I was just curious as to what artists, like you, support philanthropically. As a former long time professional fundraiser, I guess it is something I never stop thinking about even though I am retired. Philanthropy to me comes in many different forms: time, treasures and/or talent. I have known of artists who donate a painting (or other form of art) to an organization so that it can be bid on in a silent or live auction, with the proceeds going to the organization. I have artistic friends, but have never asked them this question as I know being philanthropic is not at the top of the list for many people. Many people only associate "giving" of their time, talent and treasures with their church, but there are so many other organizations that need people to volunteer (time), donate money (treasures) and share their talent (whatever that may be, from creating art, to gardening, to helping at shelters (both human and animal), etc.
Oh, yes I have done a lot of that kind of arts philanthropy over the years raising money for museums in Texas and California. Volunteered for whole school year doing an afterschool drawing program for elementary school kids in a poor neighborhood that didn't have an arts program on my own dime. That was fun. Stuff like that. Buy or trade art from other artists. I pretty much stick to the arts.
"Get into galleries." Yeah.......easier said than done. I think that might happen once I'm dead if my adult kids can manage it. Otherwise.........well I'll be gone so why worry what happens to my hundreds of art pieces anyway. If there's life after death I'll be flying around the Universe exploring space.