Art Hearts Show by Lisa Kretchman: A Benefit Exhibition for Olivia's Heart Fund

Submitted by:
Monika Agnello

The Quinebaug Valley Council for the Arts and Humanities (QVCAH) announces the Art Hearts Show by Lisa Kretchman: A Benefit Exhibition for Olivia's Heart Fund. 

Please join QVCAH on February 1st, 2013 from 6 -9pm for the opening reception. Explore the experiences of Congenital Heart Defect survivors through this series of symbolic paintings. Artist Lisa Kretchman depicts the struggles of families facing Congenital Heart Defects (CHD) in mixed-media paintings. Working with the charity Olivia’s Heart Fund, each heart is an illustration based on essays written by a CHD family. Photographs of the CHD survivors taken by Jessica Coristine complete the exhibition. This project supports the charity in its mission to fight back against CHD.

Also in the exhibit is a heart painting created for Olivia’s Heart Fund by the children of Shrewsbury Brownies Troop #11128.

All proceeds will go to benefit Olivia's Heart Fund, a charity created to benefit families and children suffering from Congenital Heart Defects. Prints of Art Hearts will be available to purchase during the reception and exhibition. The opening reception is free to attend and open to the public.

Below is an excerpt from Lisa Kretchman's website with more information about her Art Hearts:

"Art Hearts are paintings depicting the struggles of children who have suffered from Congenital Heart Defects (CHD). This project began as a strong desire to create a series of paintings that would be shared with people, with the hope of incorporating portraits of the recipients into a companion multimedia presentation. At the same time, my cousin in-laws Julie and Peter were creating the charity Olivia's Heart Fund in memory of their daughter Olivia, who had been born with a very rare heart defect, and tragically, had died at thirteen days old. This was the moment when my desire to create artwork for the heart project and also to have a purpose just came together naturally, in an unexpected way. I am documenting the process behind each painting, posting the stories of families who have been kind enough to participate in this project. The paintings will be shown as a group along with portraits of the families..."

This exhibition will be on view at QVCAH Saturdays & Sundays throughout February 24th from 12pm-4pm and also by appointment. For further information or to schedule a visit outside of posted gallery hours, email l.kretchman@qvcah.org , m.agnello@qvcah.org or call 508-764-3341.

Please visit the QVCAH website for more details at http://www.qvcah.org.