Artists have to work for a living, too

The North Valley Hospital recently ran an ad requesting local artists to donate artwork for their new facility. As a local visual artist, I am writing in response to that ad. Although I have also signed on to a letter that was sent to the contact person for the hospital, I felt that some of its contents deserved a wider audience.

The arts are a vital part of our local economy. It is patronizing and arrogant to assume that our work is not as valuable as that of other skilled people, amateur and professional alike. We also have mortgages, buy food and gas, send our children to college.

In other words, we support our economy with our business. Are we not to be supported in return? Or is it assumed that we are doing it just for fun, or because having our work in your business/hospital will look good on our resumes, or because, of course, people will flock to our studios after seeing our work there?

Is your interior designer donating his or her work? How about the people who supply the office furniture or do the masonry work. All of us donate to causes near to our hearts, but hardly a week goes by that we are not called upon for contributions.

However worthy the endeavor, we cannot survive on our largesse alone. If you cannot afford an original painting or print, purchase a nice reproduction instead.

Frankly, given the extremely high medical bills we all pay, I'm having trouble imagining that a hospital can't afford to purchase original art. But perhaps we could trade for an appendectomy or a knee replacement.

It also must be pointed out that artists, by law, are not allowed to deduct full market value for their work. They can deduct only the cost of materials.

An apology is due all the artists who enrich and enliven our lives. We love what we do, but we can't always do it for free.

Karen Leigh is an artist who lives in Kalispell.