On a recent Friday night, the Gallery at National Avenue Christian Church in Springfield, Missouri was filled to the brim with beautiful art, delicious food, and more than 300 people. For the past two years, National Avenue has been hosting the monthly meetings of Studio 55 – an art guild for artists who are over 55. The Guild’s membership has grown dramatically in the past two years and they credit the beautiful meeting space and the hospitality of National Avenue for much of that growth.
Studio 55's second annual art exhibit and silent auction on September 4th was a benefit for two of National Avenue’s justice partners: RareBreed, a Springfield organization providing help to street-dependent teenagers; and Crosslines, a ministry of the Council of Churches of the Ozarks that serves families in crisis situations. All the proceeds from the silent auction and 25% of the art which is sold will go to these two agencies. The sales from last year’s event were a little over $1,000.00. Sales from the event this year are currently over $5,000.00 and the exhibit will remain in the Gallery until the end of September.
The Gallery at National Avenue was created out of a desire to find the intersection of art and the practice of doing justice in the Springfield community. As part of its mission, the space is used throughout the year as it shares distinctive exhibitions of contemporary fine art by local and regional artists working in a broad range of media and styles. This mission is lived out more fully as each event benefits a charitable organization as part of the gallery's commitment to social justice and community outreach.