On Our Philanthropy Issue Cover

Ed Fenendael. Photo by Len Villano.

While Ed Fenendael spent less than a year creating “Mother and Child Reunion,” the painting featured on the cover of this magazine, the image has been with him for a long time.

It started with a photograph he took at a festival in Kansas City.

“Here was this woman with this child, tucked together like the painting shows,” he said. “They were very, very attentive, looking into the distance at the crowd and what was all going on. It was just an incredible representation of parental caring and love. I just thought ‘wow, look at that’… It was a given I was eventually going to do something with that photo.”

Fenendael expects the painting will raise questions – ‘Are the pair a mother and child? Was the child adopted? Were they just reunited?’ – but those thoughts, feelings and questions are just as important as the painting itself.

“Everybody and anybody, especially children, deserves attention and care and knowing someone’s interested in them and actually loves them,” he said. “I thought this fits right in with what they want in this Philanthropy Issue, with people caring about people and helping.”

The painting “Mother and Child Reunion” (oil on canvas, 18” by 24”) will be on display at the Hardy Gallery in Ephraim during the summer and fall of 2014. The minimum bid is $2,000. The painting will occasionally tour to community events, such as the Door County Community Foundation Celebration of Giving and the Volunteer Center Golden Heart Awards, and to the artist’s gallery, Morning Mist Studio, located at 3829 Fairview Road between Baileys Harbor and Egg Harbor.

For current viewing information, please contact the Door County Living office at (920) 839-2121.

Fenendael’s work is also displayed at the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay, the Watergate Gallery in Washington D.C. and Atelier Galerie in Giverny, France.

“I’m glad to share and to help in any way I can with whatever organization the dollars and cents go to,” he said. “I think life on this planet is all about helping as best you can.”

Local Artists Support Local Charities

Door County Living has successfully partnered with five local artists in the past five years to create paintings for charity. The philanthropic-themed paintings graced the covers of our philanthropy issues and were subsequently auctioned off to raise funds for the Door County charity of the winning bidder’s choice.

We are proud to announce that the 2013 cover, “Naturel Treasure,” donated and painted by Karen Cook, raised $1,500 for the Door County Humane Society and HELP of Door County.

In the last five years the cover of Door County Living’s philanthropy issues have raised $14,050 for Door County charities. In addition to last year’s beneficiaries, the Door County Maritime Museum, Unity Hospice, Peninsula School of Art, Door County Habitat for Humanity, the Door County Community Foundation, Door County Silent Sports Alliance, Door County Land Trust and the Door Community Auditorium have also received funds.