We enjoyed a wonderful bookfair today at the downtown Bellevue Barnes & Noble. If you missed it, there’s still a chance to participate!

Between now and July 1st, you can shop online at Barnes & Noble, who will generously donate a percentage of sales to underwrite our programs. Just go to http://bn.com/bookfairs and check the box indicating that this is a Bookfair Order (enter code: 10177269). Thanks for your help!

A special thanks to Your Giving Group Real Estate Team at Windermere Yarrow Bay for sponsoring this event.

The foundation is dedicated to empowering organizations that improve the quality of life for under-served, underprivileged, or impoverished people. Their 2010 giving focus was on organizations that empower children – and Art with Heart fit the bill!

Helena Hillinga Haas is a founding board member of the organization, and was introduced to Art with Heart’s work through our Art Buddy training. She  introduced Art with Heart to the membership and championed our work through the grant process. Huge thanks to Helena for helping to make this grant possible!

This donation, along with gifts from the Kismet Foundation and Paul & Debbie Brainerd, bring us closer to our goal of being able to help 20,000 more teens through the healing gift of the expressive arts. If you would like to contribute and help youth in crisis, please DONATE TODAY!

Photo by Cassie Redstone

Art with Heart is fortunate to have amazing supporters who think up unique and wonderful ways to help us meet our mission to help children in crisis. New bride Christine Godlewski Wadden and her husband Joseph were thrilled to donate to a cause that was so close to their hearts.

“Art With Heart teaches patience, encouragement and hope through creative mediums. Sometimes when you can’t find the words to express how you feel, a piece of paper, a paint brush or a journal can be very powerful tools. The organization has always resonated with me because it’s how I best express myself as well,” Christine told us.

Some couples would rather give than receive, and Christine and Joseph decided that a charitable donation to Art with Heart was a wedding gift that would last – one that would show compassion to a child in need.

We are so grateful that they chose this wonderful way to start off their life together.

Art with Heart 2nd Annual Bowling Tournament

Many thanks to Christine Jackson and LaDauna Wilson, tournament committee co-chairs, along with committee members Sam Boren, Susan Boren, Cindy Parks, Megan Beck, and Mike Martin for their hard work in planning such a fun event.

Also, huge thanks to the following lane sponsors for helping to make the evening possible: West Coast Paper, Golden Pacific Embossing, Inc. Grays Harbor Paper and Prisco.

And finally, hearty congratulations to the following tournament winners:

Team Competition

• 1st Place — ColorGraphics
• 2nd Place — Pollard Group
• 3rd Place — McCallum Print Group, Xpedx & Seattle Envelope
• Highest Individual Total Game Score — Matt Robinson, ColorGraphics

Your help is needed to help high-risk foster care youth in Texas.

Art with Heart received a request from Jorge Sanchez, MSW Clinician at Southwest Key Programs, a nonprofit in Austin, TX that helps youth by providing a stable and positive environment to turn young lives around. Because of their work, thousands of youth have been diverted from prisons, jails, and institutions, enabling them to stay at home with their families and out of trouble.

Their new Community Connections Program serves bilingual (Spanish) youth who were recently released from a detention facility.

Formerly a social worker with Casey Family Programs, Sanchez received Chill & Spill training last year. Says Sanchez, “I found the books to be very effective in getting foster youth to express themselves.” He continues, “I plan to run a Chill & Spill workshop at our center every Wednesday at 6pm. Many of these youth are gifted at drawing and writing, but just don’t have the words to express themselves.”

The only catch is that he doesn’t have the budget to be able to afford to bring the program to the kids. Would you be willing to sponsor 24 books? If so, please go to http://artwithheartshop.org to purchase the books on his behalf and have them sent to: Jorge A. Sanchez, SW Key, Community Connections Programs, 3017 S. 10th Street, McAllen, TX  78503.

Participating Wineries:
Andrake Cellars, Airfield Estates, Animale*, Bunnell Family Cellar, Fallobst, Gamache Vintners*, Gilbert Cellars*, Ginkgo Forest Winery, Kalamar Winery
Kana Winery*, Kestrel Vintners, McCrea Cellars, NHV — Naches Heights Vintners*, Northwest Cellars*, NW Totem Cellars, Pacific Rim Winemakers*, Palouse Winery*, Reininger Winery*, Smasne Cellars, Sorensen Cellars, Sparkman Cellars, Syncline, Walter Dacon*, Willis Hall, Wilridge Winery*, and Zerba Cellars

Silent Auction Donors:
Vashon Air, Great Harvest Bread Company, Sheraton Seattle Hotel, Swirl Wine Bar, Teatro ZinZanni, and The Westin Seattle

Art with Heart’s work is made possible with generous donations from companies, organizations, and people, like you. Go to artwithheart.org/help to see ways that you can help further the work of Art with Heart.

*Also donated wine for the silent auction

We had a chance for some Q&A with Talese and here is what she had to say:

How did you get involved with Art with Heart?

I met Steffanie (the founder) about 6 years ago at a holiday dinner. Since our first meeting, we’ve run into each other at various times – I was a co-captain at the breakfast and have donated a percentage of my sales in the past. After a while, I began to feel like a fair-weather friend and wanted to do something more routinely, which is how I decided to donate a percentage of sales in 2010.

Why did you choose Art with Heart as the beneficiary?

Their work has so much integrity and passion, and I have been lucky to see the organization grow and get stronger each year. I wanted to support the misson – what Steffanie is doing is so fabulous. The idea of giving back to support the community – especially youth – is really a team effort. Anything I can do to foster that is beneficial.

In your own experience, do you see that the use of art can be therapeutic?

Absolutely – any time you are experiencing, producing or learning about art, there is a natural connection with yourself. My own personal teaching style is to first create a safe space for the artist, then provide guidance and support to help them go deeper into areas of their inner self to help them connect and heal.

Are you planning more hearts to add to the series?

Oh, yes! I’m always painting hearts. Its an ongoing series of mixed media – I use fabrics, found objects and wire in addition to the paintings.

If people want to see or purchase your artwork, what should they do?

There will be a February launch for the Hearts series at my studio in West Seattle and I’m planning a show in Queen Anne for the early spring. Also, I have various shows around town, as well as a new website. People can contact me through the site. In the future, I hope to create a way for people from out of town to make purchases through the website. For those of you interested in seeing Talese’s work or finding out more about her upcoming show, please visit her website at www.taleseheckler.com.

Thank you Talese for taking the time to talk with us!

Hotel 1000 really knows how to throw a party!

The kick-off celebration of their “12 Days of Comfort, Joy & Cheer”  came to life with a fashion show and live auction, which raised over $8,000 to support Art with Heart’s programs to help children in crisis.

The evening began with snowflakes that fell outside the doors. Guests enjoyed scrumptious hors d’ourves from  BOKA KITCHEN + BAR.The auction offerings ranged from a weekend away to Napa Valley to tickets to see Oprah in Chicago!

The celebration continues through the rest of the month with 12% of the proceeds from the sale of the 12 Days hotel packages, spa treatments, BOKA menu items and gift cards that will be donated to Art with Heart.

Hotel 1000 is also  featuring its second annual 12 Days Shopping Passport Program with participating West Edge neighborhood boutiques and specialty retailers giving a 12% donation to the charity on purchases made this month. For more information, please visit Hotel 1000.

We’d like to thank the Sammamish Club for their recent donation of over $5,000! Art with Heart was chosen as the beneficiary of The Sammamish Club’s first-ever community-building fundraiser. The month long event would not have been possible without the efforts of several amazing staff members who worked diligently to organize a series of activities in which Club instructors and members donated their services and activity fees.

The fundraising efforts culminated with an Art with Heart weekend, which featured a mini-triathlon, a children’s art night, a raffle with fabulous prizes, and an open house with a wonderful selection of wine and appetizers.

Thank you so much to John McKinnon, who inspired and paved the way for this first fundraiser, which will now become an annual event. Thank you also to the Sammamish Club Staff and Club Members who worked to make this such a successful event!

For more information about the Sammamish Club, located in Issaquah, visit them online. http://www.sammamishclub.com/index.htm

Art with Heart invites you to join us at an

Exclusive Art Angels Reception

At Hotel 1000, Seattle’s premiere luxury boutique hotel
Benefiting children in crisis through Art with Heart’s Programs

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

VIP Guest Reception in the Grand Suite begins at 5:30 pm

General Admission begins at 6:30 pm

Hotel 1000’s second annual 12 Days of Comfort, Joy & Cheer is being kicked off with an Exclusive VIP Reception in Hotel 1000’s Grand Suite. The evening offers VIP Guests specialty cocktails, festive appetizers from BOKA KITCHEN + BAR, as well as get an opportunity to pre-bid on fabulous auction items that benefit Art with Heart, such as:

A Premiere Napa Valley travel experience to the Bardessono in Yountville • Destination packages to Willows Lodge in Woodinville, Woodmark on the Lake and Cave B at SageCliffe •
Private dinner experiences with local chefs • Fine Art • Trip to see Oprah!

In addition to the private reception, VIP guests will enjoy a spectacular fashion show orchastrated by The Finerie and Gene Juarez, featuring unique items from West End neighborhood boutiques and specialty retailers. Please join us, along with your friends and family, for this wonderful opportunity to kick off the holidays and support Art with Heart’s work with high-risk youth.

♥

Tickets are only available online at Brown Paper Tickets

$150 Exclusive Art Angels VIP Reception (Code: ANGEL)
$40 General Admission

For more information, please contact us at info@artwithheart.org or 206.362.4047