Bonnie Dempster and Gerrii Spach knew that their church -- Home Moravian -- had some talented artists. They just didn't realize it had so many.
After they decided to organize a show and sale of art by members of Home Moravian that would benefit Sunnyside Ministry, people they didn't know were artists came forward. In a couple of instances, it also inspired people who hadn't painted in a while to pick up a brush.
"This art thing bubbled up," said Tommy Cole, the director of Sunnyside.
More than 20 people ended up providing about 100 pieces for the show and sale, which will be at the Salem Fine Arts Center this Saturday and Sunday. Many of the artists plan to be on hand. The contributions include paintings, watercolors, pastels, mixed media, woodcuts, sculptures, pottery and jewelry. Prices range from about $25 to several hundred dollars.
Home Moravian has a slogan called "living our gifts," which encourages people to use their talents to serve, Spach said. "Everybody has some sort of spiritual gift."
Thinking about that led Dempster and Spach to begin talking about having an art show with Home Moravian artists. And doing it as a benefit for Sunnyside, which was established by the Southern Province of the Moravian Church in America, seemed just right.
Both Spach and Dempster have found a lot of personal satisfaction in creating art.
"I was a commercial artist for many years," Spach said, "and I always had to do something that somebody else wanted. Now I paint for pleasure. It's a real freedom."
"I love beautiful things," Dempster said. "I don't paint anything ugly. It has to be pretty. I want it always to be happy."
Which is one of the reasons flowers are among her favorite subjects.
Other participating artists include Bill Gramley, Justine Linville, Julia Frye and Shirley Taylor Marriott. Working together to organize the show and sale has turned the participating artists into an informal group, and Spach and Dempster hope that everyone will stay together and work on other projects.
Sunnyside, which concentrates its efforts in the 27107 and 27127 ZIP codes, will use the proceeds to help families in need with such necessities as food, rent, utilities and clothing.
"Some people say we help prevent homelessness," Cole said.
Along with support from the Moravian Church, the ministry receives support from individuals and from such organizations as the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. The economic downturn has increased demand for the ministry's services. The number of families requesting help was up 30 percent this January compared to January last year, Cole said.
"We're seeing huge increases, year over year," Cole said. "I am proud to say, so far, we have been able to deal with it."
That's possible, he said, because people have been continuing to support the organization. As a welcome bonus, he added, more people are also volunteering. About 25 people have started volunteering since the first of the year, bringing the total number of volunteers to about 150.
Admission to the art show is free, and, even if people aren't in the market to buy art, Spach and Dempster hope that people will stop by to enjoy seeing what the artists have created.
"Art makes you happy and that's important these days," Dempster said.
■ Kim Underwood can be reached at 727-7389 or at kunderwood@wsjournal.com.
■ Hours for the Home Moravian art show and sale benefiting Sunnyside Ministry are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday and 12:30 to 3 p.m. Sunday. For more information, e-mail Gerrii Spach at fspach@triad.rr.com.
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