Benefit Art Sale

For Immediate Release

For more information, contact Amy Echols

Tel: 205-394-0640

Email: aechols@jmf.com

Contribute your art work, or come join us at the reception and sale, Thursday, June 30, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m., at the Harrison Galleries, 2315 University Boulevard, in downtown Tuscaloosa. PLEASE JOIN US!

Tuscaloosa residents and brothers Dontydrick "D" Hughes, age 15, and Devaris Bayode, age 8, lost their mother, Jennifer Hughes Bayode and their home on Crescent Lane on April 27. Their father, David Bayode, lost his ice-cream truck business, and he and sons all suffered serious injuries.  When artist Amy Echols met them through a friend who was Dontydrick’s basketball coach at Davis-Emerson Middle School, the boys’ father was still in the hospital recovering, and little Devaris was in a wheelchair because of multiple broken bones. Echols began visiting the brothers and bringing them a few things they might need.  But she saw that the Bayode family’s needs were much greater than what she could provide alone.

After speaking with Jim Harrison of Harrison Galleries, members of her church and several other artists, Echols and husband Mike decided to organize an art sale as a fund-raising event. Several artists have already said they will participate: Rachel Dobson, Amy Echols, Jim Harrison, Adam Hill, Maureen Lawless, Jack Leigh, Caleb O’Connor, Ruth O'Connor, LaShonda Robinson, Craig Wedderspoon, Renaissance Gallery and Gallery on the Boulevard.

Echols asks that “artists donate their original art for sale at 50% of the retail price. All proceeds will go through theFirst Presbyterian church to benefit this family. All artists, all mediums accepted. This is not a juried show and no entry fee is required, just a compassionate heart.”

Entries are being accepted on Wednesday, June 29 at Harrison Galleries, the day before the show. For more information, contact Amy Echols: aechols@jmf.com, or download the entry form here: http://bit.ly/OneNightofArt

Sponsors of the exhibition are Kaye and Jim Harrison, Sandra Ray, Cathy and Buddy Powell, and Amy and Mike Echols. Contributors to the reception include the Cypress Inn,  Pinnacle Imports, and Greene Beverage.