Art Exhibit, Sale to Benefit Food Bank

GREENFIELD — Artist Marie Welch of Bernardston has a special mission this holiday season: to draw attention to and raise funds for the Food Bank of Western Mass. Welch is displaying her paintings in the Baystate Franklin Medical Center cafeteria (on the ground floor) through January, and 100{06cf2b9696b159f874511d23dbc893eb1ac83014175ed30550cfff22781411e5} of the proceeds from the sale of her paintings will be donated directly to the Food Bank. The public is invited to view the exhibit.

A 20-year member of the Deerfield Valley Art Assoc., Welch has exhibited at many local venues in the Pioneer Valley, Connecticut, and Vermont. The exhibit at Baystate Franklin Medical Center features local landscapes painted in oil.

“The local and national media have focused very recently on the growing demand upon food banks and the fact that donations are down,” Welch explained. “I hope my exhibit will draw attention to the need, and that purchasing the paintings will be an added incentive for people to continue to support the Food Bank with their own direct donations.”

Interested buyers should contact Welch directly at (413) 648-0521 or mwelch@bio.umass.edu. Checks should be made payable to the Food Bank of Western Mass. For more information on the Food Bank, visit www.foodbank.wma.org.

Artists who are interested in displaying their works at Baystate Franklin may call the hospital’s administrative offices at (413) 773-2761.