Today is the Feast Day of St. Nicholas, and on this day I thought I’d share with you an opportunity to help someone in the queer art community who needs financial support. Obviously today felt like a fitting day, because St. Nicholas was most famous for giving away his vast fortune to help those in need. The above painting is a depiction of St. Nick yeeting some gold through the window of three penniless sisters, and that’s exactly the type of generosity we’re looking for in this situation.
But this ask comes with the potential to get your hands on some original art—one of the last paintings created by my dear late friend and artist, Annie K. Blake.
This campaign was created as a way to honor Annie, and to help Amara, a radiant queer artist who is dealing with a cancer diagnosis and housing insecurity at the same time. Here are the details, from the estate of Annie K. Blake:
“As we come up on the one year anniversary of her death, we would like to honor and remember Annie by hosting a fundraiser to help support someone in Annie’s extended network who is dealing with a cancer diagnosis. Amara is an artist whose work Annie loved, who is currently dealing with a recurrence of cancer after a full mastectomy of their right breast. Like Annie, Amara is a believer in science and miracles, and has been approaching their diagnosis with grace and strength. Unlike Annie, Amara has been going through this without a stable place to live or financial support from immediate family/a partner.
Currently they have a place to stay near their care providers in Calistoga, CA and have rent covered through mid-December. We want to raise enough funds to cover rent through March or longer, a cost of $15,000.
Annie always donated money and supplies to people in need, and there is no better way to honor her than by raising money to help Amara. To sweeten the deal, Simon has generously donated this piece by Annie—one of the last pieces she painted in a series about volcanoes—to raffle off.”
So, here are the raffle details.
Raffle tickets for the original piece are $50, and increments of $50 equal more tickets (a $150 donation equals 3 entries, $300 equals 6 entries, etc). There is no limit to the number of entries.
Donations of $20 count as entries towards a simultaneous raffle of a limited run of 4 prints of this painting. To enter, simply Venmo your donations to @AnnieKBlake, and be sure to include your email in the message so you can be notified if you win.
The raffle ends on December 16th, so get your donations sent in soon. I’m continually amazed by the thoughtfulness and generosity of this little art community. I’m a strong believer in the power of asking, and I haven’t been let down yet. 🖤
Amara, like any of us, deserves to be held and cared for during such a crucial moment in their life. I know you’ll come through.
Thank you so much for being here.
See you soon with some more Christmas demons,
🖤Becca Lee, the Haunted Librarian🖤
If you know anyone who might be interested in this newsletter, or in this raffle/campaign, feel free to share this message with them.