Art That Gives Back: Turning Canvases Into Community Support At Gallery 300 In Healdsburg

HEALDSBURG, CA — When the doors opened Saturday at the airy gallery tucked into a passage off of Healdsburg Avenue, visitors weren't just browsing canvases and sipping chardonnay. They were mixing culture with cause by buying art from artists who donate a share of sales to local nonprofits.

The occasion was the opening reception of the Art Gives "Hope & Belonging" fundraiser at Gallery 300 on Mitchell Lane.

Art Gives is a gallery-as-social-impact platform for artists who want to channel the creativity they express in their work to highlight and support causes closest to their hearts.

That cause is currently The Living Room, a Sonoma County nonprofit that serves women and children in urgent need of essential services, food, housing, and help rebuilding their lives.
"We're bringing into focus ties between art and charity," the owner of Gallery 300, Jennifer Hirshfield, said.

The gallery also partnered with the Healdsburg Chamber of Commerce for a Sip and Shop to celebrate local makers and small businesses. On Saturday, the group sipped wines from Francis Ford Coppola Winery and Siduri and ate chocolates from Chami Cacao, while learning about The Living Room.

The Art Gives theme is inspired by artists like Mary Cassatt, the Impressionist artist who supported women’s suffrage in the early 20th century by organizing an art show to raise money for the movement. Hirshfield and Gallery 300 co-founder, artist Alejandro Salazar, curated the juried exhibition, featuring work they saw as a reflection of the hope and belonging theme — resilience, connection, and the universal desire to be seen and supported.

Hirshfield and Salazar see shows like "Hope and Belonging" as an opportunity "to build a sense of hope and inclusion in our community and beyond," and "create a space where art’s natural power to inspire hope and belonging connects us in support of a critical cause."

The work will be on display at Gallery 300 in Healdsburg until Dec. 19 for buyers seeking an opportunity to collect art that supports causes close to their own hearts as well as to adorn walls.

Gallery 300 in Healdsburg is located at 7 Michell Lane.