Help Christian stay in his home

Hello, on behalf of Joseph Daniels and myself, Joey Vazquez,

Earlier this year, we faced the devastating news that our dear friend Christian may be evicted from his home. Christian is now in his late 80s, and after the passing of his partner Bruce in 2014, he has had to work full-time as an artist to make ends meet. Unfortunately, the pandemic hitting in 2019 brought Christian's business to an almost immediate halt. He has worked to rebuild his business, but this has proved to be a massive climb for someone on a fixed income who couldn't work for nearly two years. He now faces a tax and insurance bill associated with the reverse mortgage that could cause him to be evicted/foreclosed on.

If you have ever been to Christian's home, you know it to be the best living example of his style of artwork. It's a jewel of a home that reflects all the best parts of Chris and the Columbia arts scene/community. The community rallied around him when in 2015, the historic floods impacted his house, as he was stranded and sequestered in a flooded home. He and the house made it through with your grace.

He has hosted community events for numerous non-profits, the arts-focused networking group, the Davinci Society, the University, and the hundreds of tours of the house and studio for Open Studios Columbia. All for free.

We have exhausted all our options.

Joseph, myself, and our network of friends have worked tirelessly to devise solutions on how we can help someone who has done so much for each of us. While we are prepared to offer a special sale of artwork at a later date, this is now our last effort to obtain some funding that can help secure that he stays safe and secure in the home where he belongs.

We are working with a lawyer pro-bono that has taken on his case and is willing to help us reinstate his status on the house IF we can get the funding to satisfy the lender.

If you have ever been to Christian's home, taken a tour, attended a dinner party, or experienced his art anywhere in Columbia, we kindly ask if you can take the time to provide a little kindness to Chrisitian, either through a donation or sharing this with someone who is able.