The Power of Art

A Colorado wildfire recently burned 4,500 acres of forest, destroyed 27 homes and killed three people. The day before that catastrophe we had a fire in the Rist Canyon Volunteer Fire Department's response area, but the results were quite different.

A member of the Richard Schmid Fine Art Auction committee spotted the fire and immediately called 911. Dispatch alerted each of the unpaid volunteer firefighters in our department. Although these volunteers have day jobs, more than half responded immediately to the call.

Our firefighters were able to arrive on the fire before it got out of control. They immediately called for an air tanker to drop slurry on the blaze and requested a reverse 911 call to evacuate neighbors. Then they followed up to make sure all the neighbors got out safely. 

For days after the fire was put out, volunteer firefighters and residents worked together, walking every inch of the burn area to extinguish smoldering tree stumps and other hot spots. No homes were destroyed and no lives were lost.

This immediate, organized and effective response with state of the art communications and firefighting equipment was possible in large part because of artists and art lovers like you.

For seventeen years now our firefighters, 90+ unpaid volunteer residents and a caring and generous art community have collaborated on our art auction fundraiser. As a result, we've been able to provide our volunteers with equipment that the community alone could never afford.  The department has been able to expand its response area, add medical response capabilities and provide effective support to neighboring departments.

This could never have been possible without your participation. The sale of art at our auction has literally helped protect 105 square miles of pristine mountain scenery, save homes from destruction, provide medical aid to people far from the nearest hospital and save lives.   

In fact, you would be hard pressed to find a way in which your talent or appreciation of art could do more good. Please help us continue and expand this collaborative effort.

If you are an artist and haven't entered this year's Richard Schmid Fine Art Auction please click this link to our application page on the Juried Art Services website and enter today.

Participating in our auction will effectively put you shoulder to shoulder with our fire department responders on all our emergency responses next year.   

We can't thank you enough for that. 

Creatively yours,

Charlie Bogusz