art heals.

December 5, 2012 in General

The beginning of a dream come true.

For decades I have traveled the world in my work, always paying attention to artisans wherever I went. I have a big binder of notes to myself about beautiful things I have seen, and cards of potters and painters and ironworkers and glassblowers from around the planet who are making beauty out of raw materials. They are using their hands and their creative spirits to bring art into the world—is there anything more powerful than that?

In the past ten years, I have come to recognize that a large part of my life’s work is to open space for creative spirits to make strong offers into the world—whether in their writing, painting, parenting, working, relationships, volunteerism, or other art.

So Patti Digh Designs for Life, an online “gallery” and store of work by artists creating beauty and vision and meaning, is a dream come true. I wanted to open space for artisans to create beauty and meaning at once, in ways that complement my own vision and meaning in the world–and I wanted to fling open a space where you could be part of that too. This space will continue to evolve and grow. I hope you will come here to be inspired and to support artists whose values and art mesh with your own.

Generosity is a verb.

So, yes, Patti Digh Designs for Life was designed to open space for artists to sell their beautiful work in the world. I also knew I wanted to donate a portion of the income from this business to a nonprofit whose mission was in line with my own.

I found that nonprofit in Arts for Life, an organization that provides arts education to critically ill children and their families at a crucial time in their lives.

I believe art heals. I believe art serves an identity function–it helps us understand who we are and the world around us. I want Patti Digh Designs for Life to help make art-making available to children at a critical times in their lives, to help them through it.

For that reason, 10% of the profit from the sale of handcrafted products from the Artisans collection will be donated to Arts for Life.

I hope you will join me in this work by supporting artists in the world, whether at Patti Digh Designs for Life or in your local community.

Art heals,

About Patti Digh

Patti Digh is an author, speaker, and educator who builds learning communities and gets to the heart of difficult topics. Her work over the last three decades has focused on diversity, inclusion, social justice, and living and working mindfully. She has developed diversity strategies and educational programming for major nonprofit and corporate organizations and has been a featured speaker at many national and international conferences.