By Jennifer Smith
Inside Gainesville’s big brick buildings and rows of apartment complexes, you’re sure to find a lot of blank walls.
Outside the buildings, a large homeless population counts 1,596 people down on their luck, reaching out for a helping hand, according to a recent survey conducted by the Alachua County Coalition for the Homeless and Hungry. Paul Pino, a third-year sculpture major at UF, has found a key to creating a more beautiful Gainesville on the inside and out with the conception of CharitART, an organization that sells student artwork with the proceeds going to local charities. For Pino, the idea came out of a desire to get student work seen by the community.
Inside UF’s College of Fine Arts, students create pieces for class.
Outside these classes, students might question the quality of their creations, decide against showing them and end up simply throwing their work in closets, said Pino, who is also the Student Government senator for Fine Arts. Now, these pieces from student artists of all different skills and styles can find a place adorning the walls of Gainesville while benefiting charities such as Ronald McDonald House and Helping Hands Clinic. “I’ve encouraged work from people who have more experience or less experience,” Pino said. “It doesn’t really matter to me. I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?” The work donated by artists has translated into two successful shows held at Pino’s apartment and hundreds of dollars in donations to charity.
The organization flowered from a studio class called Reactivity that Pino took in the summer.
The class dealt with artists engaging in the community while getting the community engaged in art.
A final class project brought together Pino, UF senior Jio Melendez and UF sophomore YueFeng “Dex” Xu.
Their idea of selling art for charity brought Melendez, Xu and Pino to the Waldo Flea Market, and surrounded by folks in the market for cheap furniture, they barely broke even with a sale of $16.
“That was the worst idea,” Pino said. “Sort of demoralizing.”
Four days later, the deadline for the project loomed near, and the three stayed up for a few nights working on pieces, about seven or eight each.
They threw together an art show at Pino’s apartment in a day, advertising only on Facebook.
The impromptu show was far more successful than the flea market sale, raising $100 to split between Ronald McDonald House and Helping Hands Clinic.
“I mean, there were so many people that showed up,” Pino said. “In the end, there was such support there, and people said so many nice things and enjoyed viewing the work in the first place. It was the mood of a successful show.”
Since the end of his class, Pino has kept CharitART alive with another September show at his apartment.
Held on Sept. 18, the show featured 11 artists including Pino, Melendez and Xu, comprised more than 30 pieces and raised $120 for Helping Hands Clinic.
After two successful events, Pino hopes to make CharitART shows a monthly occurrence, taking it upon himself to publicize through Facebook and fliers and cover costs out of pocket.
“All it takes is time and masking tape,” Pino said.
For the next show, Pino hopes to make a bigger impact with more art, more donations and a larger space.
He is interested in moving the event from place to place, as well as incorporating more types of art.
Paintings and drawings have been the usual fixtures at CharitART shows, but Pino hopes to include a wider range of work, including sculpture, photography, ceramics, installations, performances and sound pieces, in the future.
The key to CharitART’s success has been the donations of student artists. Pino, who has been collecting keys and delving into the idea of keys for art pieces, has found a way to give back to all the artists who helped him create a better Gainesville. “I’ve been wearing a key for several months now,” Pino said, pulling a key from under his shirt. “I want to give a key to people who donate work since I can’t give them money. Sort of like the key to their art.” Pino hopes to take CharitART with him in his future endeavors in the art world, but for now, the event continues to benefit the community, as well as the many student artists looking for a blank wall to showcase their work. “I want more artists and bigger work,” Pino said. “I want to keep taking it up a notch.”
Pino plans to hold an art auction in November, as well as an end-of-the-year art show. Those interested in attending or donating to future shows can keep updated through the CharitART Facebook group.
