In sustainability news today:

You don’t see something like this in the corporate world every day: A billionaire just unbillionaire’d himself. Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard and his family transferred their ownership of the $3 billion outdoor brand to a trust and a nonprofit working to fight climate change and preserve undeveloped land, the NYT reported. It’s to ensure that all of the company’s profits, ~$100 million per year, will be directed toward these causes.

It’s an unprecedented move by a business leader, but then again, Chouinard’s never really been into that lifestyle. “I was in Forbes magazine listed as a billionaire, which really, really pissed me off,” he told the Times.

—Jamie Wilde, Matty Merritt, Abby Rubenstein – The Morning Brew

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Our partner Action Logement, represented by Lucile Neveu, today receives about twenty people on our site who have questions about housing in general: rental, purchase, work, guarantee, assistance, etc.

This is valuable advice so that the staff can implement their project or that of their loved ones.

Action Logement has been the company’s partner since its creation and provides this service free of charge to avoid people having to go to Action Logement’s premises outside working hours.

Notre partenaire Action Logement, représenté par Lucile Neveu, reçoit aujourd’hui sur notre site une vingtaine de personnes qui ont des questions sur le logement en général : location, achat, travaux, garantie, assistance…

Il s’agit de précieux conseils afin que le personnel puisse mettre en œuvre son projet ou celui de ses proches.

Action Logement est le partenaire de l’entreprise depuis sa création et assure ce service gratuitement pour éviter aux personnes de se déplacer.

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Ivo Mattic and I were delighted to be invited to attend the inaugural Theo Paphitis Art Prize on Tuesday run in conjunction with his business the London Graphic Centre where this year’s winners were announced.  Colart was a lead sponsor with the Winsor & Newton and Liquitex brands and we were honoured to be able to nominate the artist Katie Brinkworth to the judging panel.

The competition was launched on the 14Th of April 2022, and UK artists 18 and over were invited to submit one piece of 2-dimensional artwork in any painting or drawing media.  The subject of the competition was ‘Escapism’, a theme designed to spark creativity through the emotional journey people have been through since the start of the pandemic, as well as how art, as a form of escapism itself, provides mental health and well-being benefits.

Originally it was intended that there would be two prizes awarded, one chosen by the Judges and the other being the ‘The People’s Choice” award, but they were so impressed by the quality of the entrants another category was added for the ‘The One to Watch,’ honouring new and up and coming talent.

They received over 780 very high-quality submissions from all around the country, a response far greater than they had ever hoped for, and the 5 judges spent the last few days whittling this down to 10 finalists.   

All ten finalists travelled to London Graphic Centre on Tuesday where friends and family, the judges, members of Rymans and London Graphic Centre and representatives from the sponsoring businesses were invited to a private viewing and the announcement of the winners.

The Judges Winner, Jane Goodman, submitted an untitled waterclour (painted with Winsor & Newton Cotman) which beautifully captures a moment of tranquillity and escapism of her daughter swimming.  Jane only restarted painting during the lockdowns as a coping mechanism for the stresses she faced at the time.

The People’s Choice Award, titled ‘intent … thinking outside the box., oil on canvas, was voted for by over 7,500 people and was submitted by Titus Agbara and depicts mental and emotional discharge in a time of deliberate confinement.

The One to Watch Award, titled ‘Inside out’, oil on canvas (not Winsor & Newton ☹) was Theo’s last-minute addition to the prizes and went to Eleanor Sass who only started painting 2 years ago during the lockdowns, and represents how restricted we were during the pandemic.

Full details about the winners, the competition and the prizes can be found here:

https://www.londongraphics.co.uk/theo-paphitis-art-prize

You can view all 780 submissions here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/theopaphitisartprize/

We were thrilled to be a sponsor of the Theo Paphitis Art Prize and look forward to working with them collaboratively again next year.

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Hi everyone, 

Hospital Rooms, one of our Colart partners, is holding an auction to raise funds for more art installations (all predominantly made with Colart materials) in mental health units across the UK and Steph Nebbia and I wanted to share the news that this is the last day to bid on some amazing paintings. 

You have probably seen images of the gallery Hauser & Wirth, where many of us used our volunteer days to work on a mural, but there is more!

A silent auction is open now where over 30 international artists (including Steph and I) made work on canvasses that Winsor & Newton donated.  We were all asked to respond to the idea of what ‘hope’ meant to us after a service user in a unit said she wanted the art in the hospital to make her feel, ‘Like there is hope and I can dream of another world.’ 

Here are a few images of the HOPE works, and you can learn more about the auction here. 

The HOPE canvasses auction ends 15 Sept at 16.00

If you want to know more about any of the artists in the auction, just ask us.  It is a great opportunity to support a good cause and add a piece of art to your life!

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