I’ve never liked the concept of The End.
Does a story ever really come to an end? And if it does, its there really only one end to it?
I’ve never been convinced that the answer to these questions is ‘yes’.
An End – now that’s a concept I can support. Of course ends exist. Any story, even the simplest, has an end. Indeed, I think every story has an infinite number of ends. But that is a matter for a different post.
The Van Gogh project, though it hasn’t come to the end, has nonetheless come to an end: the auctions for Charlie’s painting raised over $2100; I no longer have a painting to trade up; and so, as I said, the Van Gogh Project, has come to an end.
But Betsy was right -- the auction of Charlie’s painting has started an entirely new adventure.
ArtWorks945 is taking the money that was raised and funneling it toward a public art project. The plan is to paint a mural on an underpass in Charlotte based on two paintings: Falling Down Man and Rising Up Man.
What is Rising Up Man? Well, it doesn’t exist yet. But Charlie, upon hearing of the plan for the mural, agreed to design a second painting that will represent the triumph of a homeless person who is rising up.
Together, the two murals should provide a moving tribute to the power of art to transform lives as well as the importance of helping those who have fallen down to rise up again.
Perhaps even more exciting: we are going to film the process. If we get enough footage, we will make a short documentary.
I plan to start a new blog, what I will call simply The Project, where I will document our efforts.
But for now, I will say ‘goodbye’. And ‘thank you’. Thank you to all those who have read this blog, thank you to all those who participated in the auction, and finally thank you to the Universe. I didn’t get a Van Gogh. But I did have a whole lot of fun; I met some totally cool people; and have been given the chance to help create a work of art with the artists of ArtWorks945. What could be better, really?
And who knows, maybe I’ll get a Van Gogh some day. One can always hope.
