Brush with Art: An artist with a heart

The work of Cardiff artist Gerrit Greve has been well regarded throughout the San Diego area for more than four decades, in addition to receiving international recognition.

With a special “Hearts for Healing” reception and art auction of his students’ work to be held on Feb. 9, selections from Greve’s Water Series will be on display at L Street Fine Art through February 2014.

According to one art critic, Greve’s Water Series is “decidedly one of his most deeply contemplated and expansive investigations of pure painting in his career as an artist.”

In addition to his prolific creation of paintings during the last two decades, Greve has increasingly turned his attention towards giving back to the community.

Collaborating with Ralyn and Nate Wolfstein, in 1993 Greve co-founded Arts for Healing at Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla, a program that promotes healing through an aesthetically enhanced hospital environment.

In 2003 Greve was the driving force in establishing the Arts for Healing Program on the Encinitas campus of Scripps Hospital, and later expanded the program to include additional hospitals and medical clinics with his “Hearts for Healing” programs.

As founder and director of the Hearts for Healing Foundation, a nonprofit community outreach now in its sixth year, Greve shares with youth the healing power of art.

With the help of personally trained assistants, Greve works with youth in local schools and community centers not only to impart artistic skills, but also to explore students’ self-expression and ability to communicate feelings through art.

As a result, participating students gain a sense of empowerment by making a difference in people’s lives and in the enhancement of the community and healing environments.

Greve describes Hearts for Healing students, “They are excited about how their work will help others; how they are going to be giving up their artwork and this is a unique concept for kids. They are doing something in order to give it away. Not only that, but they are creating something in order to make someone else feel good.”

Regarding his own experience of the Hearts for Healing program during the past five years, Greve reflects, “This is one of the most heart-warming and rewarding experiences of my life. Again and again, I am able to witness real change in many of these students. They gain a new confidence in themselves and their abilities. Knowing that their art can possibly make a difference in someone else’s life and health gives them a rare excitement that many of them have never experienced before.”

The Hearts for Healing exhibition and auction will feature more than 90 heartfelt artworks created by 36 students from R. Roger Rowe Middle School in Rancho Santa Fe under the direction of Gerrit Greve. The event will benefit Family Health Centers of San Diego and the Hearts for Healing Foundation.

Also on exhibit through February 2014 is a breathtaking selection of works from Gerrit Greve’s Water Series.

The public is cordially invited to attend the Hearts for Healing reception and art auction at L Street Fine Art, 628 L Street, San Diego, Feb. 9, 1 to 4 p.m.

To attend, please RSVP to [email protected] or [email protected]

Kay Colvin is director of L Street Fine Art Gallery in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter, and specializes in promoting emerging and mid-career artists. Contact her at                                                                          kaycolvin@lstreetfineart.com