Throughout December, you can help local people in need by purchasing an original work of art by Signal Mountain artist Liz Lindstrom at Mayfly Coffee, which is hosting the month-long Creatures for Community art fundraiser benefiting the Chattanooga Community Kitchen.
Lindstrom has created 20 works for the fundraiser, each featuring an animal or insect selected by one of her three daughters, ages 8, 6 and 4.
"I wanted them to feel connected to helping us raise money for the homeless in the community," Lindstrom said, as to why she had her daughters select the paintings' subjects.
Lindstrom's husband, Tyler McGehee, also participated in the family project by building the frames and fitting the works, all drawn with metallic gold paint and charcoal on 12-by-12-inch canvases, for presentation.
The Chattanooga Community Kitchen will receive all proceeds from the sales of the paintings, all of which are priced at $300. If all the paintings are sold, Creatures for Community will raise $6,000 for the CCK, where Lindstrom has been volunteering since she moved to the area in 2010.
"I feel like the money goes so far there in helping the community," she said. "This is their big time of year, because around the holidays a lot of families are stretched [financially] even more than usual."
Since she has three small children, Lindstrom said she hasn't been able to volunteer as much at CCK, so she came up with the idea for the art fundraiser to give herself and the rest of her family another way to give to the nonprofit.
Lindstrom said she chose Mayfly Coffee to host the fundraiser because it's her local coffee shop, and also because of owners Atley and Katie Davidson's efforts to better the lives of the people who grow the company's coffee.
"Generosity is at the core of Mayfly Coffee, so sharing their space at the Signal Mountain coffee house with the Creatures for Community show is a perfect fit," said Lindstrom.
Mayfly Coffee is at 708 Mississippi Ave. The works may also be purchased through Lindstrom's website at lizlindstrom.com.