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When I was a reporter at my first newspaper in Davis, Calif., I hated the phrase “win-win.” I actually created a wall of shame where I put the printed quotes of people, usually politicians, who had doubled up on the “wins” or, worse yet, uttered “win-win-win.”
But an upcoming arts event has forced me to embrace that phrase of shame. It’s a reception at L Street Fine Art Gallery from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. The show, “Eat Paint Love,” is an Arts for Healing project featuring new paintings by Gerrit Greve, along with teens and teachers from San Diego County.
Greve gets kids involved in art and giving. This summer he worked in his studio with more than a dozen students and teachers’ assistants, who headed for classrooms in the fall. The kids were given top-notch artists’ paints, canvases and inspiration. An opportunity to work one-on-one with a renowned artist like Greve, well, that’s something even I would covet.
So there’s a win for the kids.
But it gets better. At the reception Saturday, those pieces by kids and teachers are being auctioned off to benefit community health care (win) and a leading arts organization (win No. 3). This helps the teens grow because they experience joy in giving.
“The bottom line: It’s tremendously empowering, particularly with at-risk kids,” said Greve. “They learn to give rather than just receive.”
Chalk up win No. 4.
Typically, the 17-year-old Arts for Healing program has the teens donate paintings to medical centers to lift the spirits of those seeking treatment. This will be the sixth time the pieces from the program have gone to an auction similar to the one coming up this Saturday. For me, this could be the biggest win of all. The paintings are gorgeous. Inspired by the book “Eat Pray Love,” the “Eat Paint Love” paintings illustrate the artists’ personal journeys into spirituality and the physical world. As I browsed the catalogue, I could see any of them above the mantel in my North Park home.
Greve says the paintings have sold out every time.
So paste me on my own wall of shame, but in my mind, Saturday’s event at L Street Fine Art is a win times five over.
Dani Dodge paints, writes and likes to play with animals, including her mutt named Cezanne: Follow her blog here at VOSD’s Behind the Scene, and find her on the web and on Facebook. You can drop her a line at dani@danidodge.com and follow her on Twitter.