One of the nice things about being an artist is that you can hide away in your studio working on art but still be a part of something bigger by donating your artwork to a good cause. A few times a year, I get asked to either donate a painting or to make something (painted furniture, birdhouses, kid crafts) to support a cause. Last year I renovated a friend’s old dollhouse (from her childhood) and filled it with tiny painted furniture and original artwork. It was really fun to bring the dollhouse back to life, and I ended up donating it to an auction fundraiser for Household Goods in Acton, MA. They are a terrific organization with a simple mission: they collect furniture and household donations from people who don’t need them and distribute them to individuals or families that do.

I’ve also donated to a number of art non-profits like Concord Art, Attleboro Arts Museum and the Zullo Gallery. I’m a big fan of these organizations for the educational work they do and for the opportunities they offer artists of all levels to share their work. Studio art is a solitary pursuit, so connecting with a non-profit (or several) can be a great way for artists to be part of a larger art community.

My piece “Something Blue” was accepted into the Artcetera Boston auction this year. This was an early Strata painting, and it was one of those pieces that never fully worked. So a couple of years after thinking it was finished, I went back into it and totally reworked it. And then recently, a poet named Matthew Goff wrote a poem about it and posted it on Instagram. How cool is that? It feels great to know that if this work sells at the auction, not only will it be going to a new home, but it will support the work of the AIDS Action Committee.