Art From the Heart

About 80 Richmond artists are expected to participate in a fundraiser for the World Pediatric Project

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Fine art is up for sale for a great cause March 25-26 as the Bon Air Artists Association stages its Artful Healing fundraiser to benefit the World Pediatric Project.

The event will take place at the Jepson Alumni Center at the University of Richmond. It opens with a gala from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on March 25. The gala will be a catered event and also will feature music, artwork raffles and art demonstrations. Tickets are $45 in advance, and will be available at the door for $50.

That will be followed with a free event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 26 that will include painting demonstrations, raffles and a viewing of the art for sale.

Works from about 80 artists are featured, available in an array of mediums and at varying price points. Participating artists include Chuck Larivey, who will paint during the gala at 7 p.m. March 25, and Linda Hollett-Bazouzi, who will conduct a painting demonstration from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on March 26.

Other art includes watercolors from Eleanor Cox, pottery from Trista Chapman, oils by Sunny Goode, metals from Kirk Thore, and oils by Monica Rao and by Beverly Perdue.

“We have a range of good art,” says Lee Austini of the artist association.

It’s the fourth year for the fundraiser for the World Pediatric Project, a nonprofit founded in Richmond that serves children in the Caribbean and Central America with critical pediatric medical care and preventive programs.

At least 35 percent of proceeds from each sale will be donated to WPP. There also will be raffles of donated artwork, with all raffle proceeds benefiting the medical nonprofit. The event has generated more than $60,000 for the project over its first three years.

Austini said the Bon Air group has partnered with the World Pediatric Project because of its impressive track record.

“We feel like it’s something we can do,” she says. “We have a commodity that’s marketable that’s a natural for fundraising.”

HEALTHY DEVELOPMENTS

A roundup of the week’s health and medicine news

  • Sheltering Arms Rehab Institute, a 114-bed rehabilitation hospital set for construction at West Broad Street just inside Virginia Highway 288, has cleared a major hurdle. The facility, a joint venture of Sheltering Arms and VCU Health System, has received approval for its certificate of public need from Marissa Levine, Virginia’s Commissioner of Health, according to a Tuesday release. The project has an estimated price tag of $119 million. Groundbreaking is projected for late summer or early fall, according to Sheltering Arms. Architect and designer services should be selected by late April. Sheltering Arms Rehab Institute will be an in-patient facility on 25 acres in the West Creek Medical Park. The target opening is set for fall 2020. The institute will house in-patient rehabilitation services that will be moved from the Sheltering Arms hospital in Midlothian and its Hanover hospital in Mechanicsville, and from VCU Health’s in-patient services. The facilities will continue to operate until the Institute opens, and they will continue to provide out-patient services afterward.