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The Meek Family, owners and operators of Naples’ oldest art gallery the Harmon-Meek Gallery, believe in supporting organizations in the community through their love of art. They raise money for at-risk youth and local children’s art programs through the Harmon-Meek Gallery Fund at the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. Funds are raised primarily though their Visionaries of the Visual Arts Award and Benefit Dinner now in its fourth year. This season, their event will be held January 10, 2017.

Through funds raised from their dinner, the Meeks partnered with the David Lawrence Centers on the development of a unique, six month pilot art therapy program for at-risk children enrolled in the Community Action Team (CAT). The program known as Creative Expressions: Arts for Health and Wellness program provides children and adolescents the opportunity to visit, view, and discuss artwork created by professional artists within a gallery space, and be able to create their own artwork in an art studio. The children learn how artists’ express thoughts, feelings, and emotions through the use of line, shape, color, and pictorial metaphors, and practice these learned techniques for themselves. They then process and share their artwork with their DLC treatment team.

What began as a pilot is now in its third year and sixth session thanks to the Meek Family’s generosity and continued belief in our mission. The Meeks have also hosted the children in their gallery and provided them access to their artists who have spoken to them about their work. The Meeks have recently awarded the Center another $5,000 to continue the program. The Meeks have invested $19,000 in total to the program and the results have been profound.