Small, locally-owned businesses are wonderful to the community for many reasons. Not only do the account for the most of the job creation, keep money in the community, and give Durham an outsized national reputation, but they also keep our community uniquely engaged by fostering cooperation between artists, business owners, and Durham residents.
An excellent example of such cooperation is the Board Street Cafe, which has long served as a nexus of good food, excellent music and innovative art. According to the Durham News, their latest project is the Heartfelt project, a collection of paintings and other artwork serving as a fundraiser for the Dave Turner Lymphoma Foundation which helps area families facing cancer.
Check out the article after the break and be sure to visit Broad Street, sample their fares, and, perhaps, purchase one of the art pieces.
Suzanne Turner and Durham artist Beth Palmer frame Palmer's canvas,
'David's Legacy,' a tribute to David Turner, whose courage durng a
battle with lymphoma inspired others.
'David's Legacy' by Beth Palmer
David Turner making the shape of a heart with his fingers.
A collection of paintings and other artwork line two walls in the
Broad Street Cafe. The "Show Us Your Heart" exhibit is a fundraiser for
the Dave Turner Lymphoma Foundation that helps area families facing
cancer.
hlynch@newsobserver.com
|
In May of 2009, David Turner created a website: www.bigdavesbiggift.org.
It
officially launched his dream, the David Turner Lymphoma Foundation/Big
Dave’s Big Gift. This nonprofit helps cancer patients with expenses,
provides opportunities for productive, healthful living, and funds art
therapy.
Turner was the vice-president, his mother, Suzanne, president. “It gave him such drive,” she said. “My son said he got happier every day. He worked hard to start this foundation.” Three weeks later on June 6, David died from Stage IV Non-Hodgkin diffuse, large B-cell lymphoma, a blood cancer.
The foundation is flourishing under his mother’s guidance, touching lives all over the Triangle.
“Show Us Your Heart,” an art exhibit at The Broad Street Café, 1116 Broad St., through June, is a fundraiser for the foundation and includes 70 canvasses, either 3 inches by 4 inches or 6 inches by 6 inches. Each is a stand-alone creation but hung with the others to provide a community of stories. Pieces are $20 each or three for $50.
“It is very hard to pick a favorite piece,” said café co-owner John Hite, who said he is honored to host the exhibit. “You can stand for a long time trying to take it all in. The whole concept is so intriguing.”
Participant Tracy Berger is a family therapist with the Duke Cancer Patient Support Program, where she met Dave. “Dave was very special and meant a lot to me,” she said. “The untitled collage I made was inspired by him and my love for all our cancer patients,” Berger said.
“Here Is A Piece of My Art,” by Bridget Pemberton-Smith, shows two hands extending a heart to the viewer. A clinician working with the Art Therapy Institute in Carrboro, Pemberton-Smith goes into UNC’s Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and UNC’s Bone Marrow Transplant Unit to provide digital art therapy for children that is funded by David’s foundation. “The foundation is really recognizing some of the needs of these families going through cancer that are not being met,” she said. “Some families can’t afford certain medical procedures. The art therapy is great because it gives people an outlet to express what they are going through.”
Durham mosaic artist Jeannette Brossart was asked to create a piece by her friend, Durham artist Beth Palmer, who is a cancer survivor. “I wanted to support Beth as well as family members and friends I know who have had cancer,” she said. “It really does touch everyone at sometime or another.”
Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve of 2008, Palmer received an email from a friend forwarding a letter written from Suzanne Turner, who was asking for help as her son needed a stem cell transplant and had no health insurance. “I emailed Suzanne immediately and said, “I know we don’t know each other, but call me and maybe I can help,” Palmer said.
The women forged a tight relationship that continues. Palmer spent hours listening to David and created “David’s Legacy,” a painting that could be sold to raise money for his stem cell transplant.
“I told David I would be his assistant mom,” Palmer said.
This current exhibit had its beginnings when Suzanne Turner asked Palmer to come up with some ideas to participate in the 2011 Triangle Christmas Tree Challenge held at Durham’s American Tobacco Campus.
“I knew I wanted to promote the arts and creative self expression,” Palmer said. She had read about other fundraisers where well-known people created small canvasses to sell. She asked people who had been affected by David’s courage to participate. The resulting exhibit was shown in February at Durham’s LabourLove Gallery. About 30 of the 100 canvases have sold.
Palmer thought the exhibit would have a big visual impact on viewers, but she also had another idea in mind.
“I wanted Suzanne to go back and revisit some of the places to kind of reconnect or complete something,” she explained. “I knew that through talking about what inspires us, what makes us smile and what we love, when we talk that language and make something from it, something really amazing happens.” Turner said, “It was a healing and wonderful thing to go back and meet with people who had been a part of the story.”
Sharing hearts
Even after the exhibit’s end, Turner hopes people everywhere will show their heart to others. “We want them to share their talents in their communities, wherever they are, however they can. Just like David did,” she said.
Chad Malott was a friend of David’s who came and stayed with him after he got sick. Turner said, “Chad said one of David’s greatest gifts was seeing the gift in others.”
To listen to Turner is to understand where her son got the seeds of his insight, strength and compassion. “Beth’s painting ‘David’s Legacy’ gave David a voice. He felt people could see his heart. That is what I want to do personally with everyone we come in contact with. To make sure they have a voice.
David was 24 and working at 17th Street Surf Shop in Virginia when he got sick in 2008. He was smart, artistic, and just beginning to figure out his path. After his diagnosis, he had a truncated version of Romans 5:3 tattooed on the inside of his wrist. The verse reads, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
“Hope is the gift he gave,” Turner said. “He taught a lot of us how to live and how to die.”
Turner was the vice-president, his mother, Suzanne, president. “It gave him such drive,” she said. “My son said he got happier every day. He worked hard to start this foundation.” Three weeks later on June 6, David died from Stage IV Non-Hodgkin diffuse, large B-cell lymphoma, a blood cancer.
The foundation is flourishing under his mother’s guidance, touching lives all over the Triangle.
“Show Us Your Heart,” an art exhibit at The Broad Street Café, 1116 Broad St., through June, is a fundraiser for the foundation and includes 70 canvasses, either 3 inches by 4 inches or 6 inches by 6 inches. Each is a stand-alone creation but hung with the others to provide a community of stories. Pieces are $20 each or three for $50.
“It is very hard to pick a favorite piece,” said café co-owner John Hite, who said he is honored to host the exhibit. “You can stand for a long time trying to take it all in. The whole concept is so intriguing.”
Participant Tracy Berger is a family therapist with the Duke Cancer Patient Support Program, where she met Dave. “Dave was very special and meant a lot to me,” she said. “The untitled collage I made was inspired by him and my love for all our cancer patients,” Berger said.
“Here Is A Piece of My Art,” by Bridget Pemberton-Smith, shows two hands extending a heart to the viewer. A clinician working with the Art Therapy Institute in Carrboro, Pemberton-Smith goes into UNC’s Division of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and UNC’s Bone Marrow Transplant Unit to provide digital art therapy for children that is funded by David’s foundation. “The foundation is really recognizing some of the needs of these families going through cancer that are not being met,” she said. “Some families can’t afford certain medical procedures. The art therapy is great because it gives people an outlet to express what they are going through.”
Durham mosaic artist Jeannette Brossart was asked to create a piece by her friend, Durham artist Beth Palmer, who is a cancer survivor. “I wanted to support Beth as well as family members and friends I know who have had cancer,” she said. “It really does touch everyone at sometime or another.”
Christmas Eve
On Christmas Eve of 2008, Palmer received an email from a friend forwarding a letter written from Suzanne Turner, who was asking for help as her son needed a stem cell transplant and had no health insurance. “I emailed Suzanne immediately and said, “I know we don’t know each other, but call me and maybe I can help,” Palmer said.
The women forged a tight relationship that continues. Palmer spent hours listening to David and created “David’s Legacy,” a painting that could be sold to raise money for his stem cell transplant.
“I told David I would be his assistant mom,” Palmer said.
This current exhibit had its beginnings when Suzanne Turner asked Palmer to come up with some ideas to participate in the 2011 Triangle Christmas Tree Challenge held at Durham’s American Tobacco Campus.
“I knew I wanted to promote the arts and creative self expression,” Palmer said. She had read about other fundraisers where well-known people created small canvasses to sell. She asked people who had been affected by David’s courage to participate. The resulting exhibit was shown in February at Durham’s LabourLove Gallery. About 30 of the 100 canvases have sold.
Palmer thought the exhibit would have a big visual impact on viewers, but she also had another idea in mind.
“I wanted Suzanne to go back and revisit some of the places to kind of reconnect or complete something,” she explained. “I knew that through talking about what inspires us, what makes us smile and what we love, when we talk that language and make something from it, something really amazing happens.” Turner said, “It was a healing and wonderful thing to go back and meet with people who had been a part of the story.”
Sharing hearts
Even after the exhibit’s end, Turner hopes people everywhere will show their heart to others. “We want them to share their talents in their communities, wherever they are, however they can. Just like David did,” she said.
Chad Malott was a friend of David’s who came and stayed with him after he got sick. Turner said, “Chad said one of David’s greatest gifts was seeing the gift in others.”
To listen to Turner is to understand where her son got the seeds of his insight, strength and compassion. “Beth’s painting ‘David’s Legacy’ gave David a voice. He felt people could see his heart. That is what I want to do personally with everyone we come in contact with. To make sure they have a voice.
David was 24 and working at 17th Street Surf Shop in Virginia when he got sick in 2008. He was smart, artistic, and just beginning to figure out his path. After his diagnosis, he had a truncated version of Romans 5:3 tattooed on the inside of his wrist. The verse reads, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
“Hope is the gift he gave,” Turner said. “He taught a lot of us how to live and how to die.”
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