7th Paintings for a Purpose art show raises $20K, giving back to Winnipesaukee Playhouse, Circle Program

MEREDITH — Dr. Marc Bard, who launched Paintings for a Purpose in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, raised $20,000 this year for two local nonprofit organizations.

Hosted at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse in July, the theater company received $10,000, and $10,000 went to the Circle Program, a nonprofit mentorship program serving girls in New Hampshire.

Bard originally started Paintings for a Purpose after his daughter asked him to frame a couple of his paintings. He went to Meredith Frame Shop, where he met owner Davida Cook, who was impressed with his paintings and suggested he host an art show. Since COVID social distancing regulations were in place, Cook hung a collection of Bard’s paintings in the three picture windows of her shop.

Cook told Bard they needed to put a price tag on his work.

“I said, 'I don't sell my paintings.' She said, 'What do you mean?' I said, 'No, I don't. I give them away,'” Bard said. “She said, 'Well, if you want to be like that, what do you want to do with the money if we sell it?' I said, 'Well, I'm going to give it away.' So, we sold $3,000 worth of paintings, and gave all the money to the Meredith Food Pantry. And that was the beginning of Paintings for a Purpose.”

Since then, Bard has held an art show every year, the last two years raising $20,000, split between the Winnipesaukee Playhouse and another beneficiary organization chosen by board members of Painting for a Purpose. To participate and receive funds raised, a representative from the benefiting organization must provide a volunteer every night throughout Bard’s art show, which ran through the month of July this summer.

Bard said Meredith Village Savings Bank has been an incredible presenting sponsor, along with sponsors Moulton Farm, Meredith Frame Shop, and Minuteman Press North Conway.

“This is a wonderful capstone,” Bard said Tuesday evening, during a check presentation at the Playhouse. “I spent my career as a doctor, and so for me to be able to do this, and help these organizations that do so much for this community, it's like continuing to be a doctor, because I'm still helping.”