Gallery Five - Christopher Martin

On a stormy night in St. Louis a group of very sick children is assembled in the lobby of Ranken Jordan hospital to create a painting. Some are aware of what they're about to do and others are beyond that comprehension, but their friends, family, and nurses are assembled to help them hold a brush with their hand or mouth to get some beautiful color on a blank canvas. The artist present to guide them is Christopher Martin. He tells the group that they can't make a mistake, and that the painting they create will raise money to help all the children of the hospital. As always when the paint begins to color the canvas, the mood in the room lifts and smiles emerge. In this group, there is a girl who hasn't smiled since a terrible car accident involving a drunk driver changed her life forever, the former bouncy teenage cheerleader is now a quadriplegic and her sisters are there to help guide her brush on the canvas.
Something in those first strokes inspires the corners of her mouth to lift and a smile emerges for the first time since her accident.It is a huge gift to her family, the hospital and to Chris and the group of children votes to name the painting, Even the Rain Can't Wash Away a Smile.

That is just one example of how Christopher Martin found a way to help. Since 2001, he has been painting with groups of children to help further their cause. Originally, begun with a client of Chris' art gallery, Jim Gause, who requested that Chris paint with a group of children from a special needs school for their auction, "Kidz Creations" is now targeted at hospitals and charities that help sick children. Children's hospitals such as Scottish Rite in Dallas, TX, Our Children's House at Baylor Hospital in Dallas, Ranken Jordan in St. Louis, MO, and St. John's Children's Cancer Center in St. Louis, MO have benefited from the painting sessions as have The Make a Wish Foundation, The March of Dimes, Bryan's House, and multiple other schools and charities over the past six years. In that time, well over $200,000 has been raised through the auction of the works of art Chris and the kids have created. Those are the details that point to the huge success of Kidz Creations, but it is in the painting sessions with the kids where the true joy of the project emerges. The children show up to Chris' painting studio, and Chris speaks with them first telling them that they have an opportunity to raise money to help children like themselves. The cardinal rule of the studio is that there are no mistakes in painting; just let go and have fun. The kids are then divided into groups small enough to work at the canvas together. They vote on the starting colors and go to work. The kids know what to do with the paint and a theme naturally emerges. Smiley faces, flowers, bugs, and animals inhabit the canvases. Brushes, fingers, hands and even toes have been used to create these masterpieces. Chris shepherds the groups through four or five rotations at the canvas, and then each child is given a choice of color and one minute to put their special touch on the canvas. The kids and parents vote on the name of the piece and each kid signs the back of their masterpiece. Chris then over paints the kids' efforts highlighting and refining their creation. The result is a beautiful, exuberant work that is then auctioned to everyone's benefit. Typically, prints are made so all the patrons can share the love of the piece.

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