Annual Outsider Art Show and St. Margaret's Hospital Guild partner for special night
Indianapolis, January 17, 2007 – Come for a "sneak preview" of this year's St. Margaret's Hospital Guild Decorators' Show House and Garden Walk, and also enjoy the dozens of paintings, pottery and sculpture that will be displayed at the annual Midtown Community Mental Health Center Outsider Art Show.
To gain a better appreciation for the finished product, have a look at the before view of the 2007 St. Margaret's Hospital Guild Decorators' Show House and Garden Walk, along with the art show, located at 4201 N. Washington Boulevard. The Preview Party and Outsider Art Show will be held Friday, February 2 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Show House. Tickets are $35 and reservations are required.
This is the ninth year for the Outsider Art Show, but the first time the event has partnered with St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild’s “Undecorated” Show House event. The Outsider Art Show, which benefits the Art Program of Midtown Community Mental Health Center, will feature the display and sale of works by Midtown artists. Artists will also be on hand to meet and discuss their works with attendees. Outsider artists have gained much deserved recognition over the last 25 years. The artists themselves are not trained in traditional art forms, which leaves them free to express themselves in the manner in which they choose. Their work is both inspiring and visually exciting.
The Preview Party will also feature the presentation of two special awards. The prestigious Achievement in Medicine (AIM) Award, sponsored by the Indiana Blood Center, honors a management-level member of the Wishard family who upholds the tradition of excellence in healthcare. The second award, the Paul Harris Courageous Spirit and Art Achievement Award, is presented by Midtown Community Mental Health Center each year at the Outsider Art Show to a participant in Midtown's art program.
This will be the 46th year St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild has hosted the annual Decorators’ Show House and Garden Walk to benefit Wishard Health Services. This year’s Show House will be April 28 to May 13. This year also marks a milestone for St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild, as the Guild celebrates a century of charitable contributions to Wishard Health Services.
“The Preview Party offers an excellent opportunity to see the before view of this year’s Show House. People will gain a better understanding of the work of the designers and the landscape architects when they come back in the spring and see the transformation that has taken place,” said Mary Caito, president of St. Margaret's Hospital Guild.
Established in 1969 as the first mental health center in Indiana, Midtown Community Mental Health Center offers an array of mental health services including severe mental illness and substance abuse treatment, 24-hour emergency services, a detoxification program, full continuum for chronically addicted patients, specialized home- and community-based programs for seriously emotionally disturbed children and adolescents and a partial-hospitalization program.
Best known for its annual Decorators' Show House, the Guild provides funds every year to Wishard for a variety of capital improvements and program enhancements. Through the years, funds raised have benefited areas including pediatrics, the Richard M. Fairbanks Burn Center at Wishard, radiology, the St. Margaret's Diagnostic Breast Center, newborn and special care nurseries, Midtown Community Mental Health Center, the Wishard Ambulance Service, and mobile mammography services. With the record breaking proceeds from last year’s Decorators’ Show House, St. Margaret’s Hospital Guild, in partnership with Wishard Health Services has established a new program, EMBRACE for women battling cancer. This year St. Margaret's Hospital Guild will focus its efforts on raising funds the Our Kids Our Community campaign, which benefits children who use Wishard's services. The Decorators' Show House has raised more than $9 million for Wishard Health Services.
In addition to the special Preview Party and Outsider Art Show on February 2, there will also be preview tours of the “Undecorated” Show House on Saturday and Sunday, February 3 and 4, and Saturday and Sunday, February 10 and 11 at the Show House, 4201 N. Washington Boulevard. Tour tickets are $5 at the door.
For more information or to make reservations for this unique and fun-filled evening, please call St. Margaret's Hospital Guild at 767-0390, e-mail dshreservations@comcast.net or visit www.showhouseindy.com.