A special blog contribution from our 2023 FPWR Art Auction Participants!

Our 2023 Artist of the Year competition was a great success, raising critical funds for PWS research! We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all our extraordinary artists who participated in this year's competition. Each of these competitors submitted a handmade piece of art for our annual Art Auction that was auctioned off to the highest bidder and shared their story to encourage donations for PWS and SYS research. In total, these amazing artists raised over $20,000!

We are pleased to spotlight our Artist of the Year, Dinah White, along with our other top participants on why they participated in the competition and what it means to them.  

Artist of the Year, Dinah White

"Dinah has always had great enthusiasm for painting and a keen artistic eye. When she found out that her art could actually be sent out and entered into a kind of auction/competition, she become especially engaged and began to show a new level of pride and self-confidence in this domain. She put tremendous thought and care into her painting.

After completing it, she then insisted on accompanying me to Staples to find suitable packing materials and to see that it was properly mailed out, making friends and earning new admirers at the shipping store. It was an especially big step for Dinah to start painting on canvas, rather than just watercolors on paper, which she had mainly done before, and, since creating her work for the auction, she has taken to painting more and more on canvas, experimenting with several different styles.

Although Dinah still hopes to become an astronaut when she grows up, she now concedes that, if this doesn’t work out, she’d also be happy to be either a painter or a professional golfer."

Dinah will grace the cover of FPWR's 2023 Impact Report - Congratulations Dinah!

Runner up, Rhéa!

"Rhéa truly brings happiness to everyone she knows; she is friendly and joyful with a little sense of humor on the side. We were thrilled to participate in the FPWR “Artist of the Year” auction and fundraiser and loved creating her artwork “Colors of Hope”!

Rhéa used her hands and brush to add color and depth on her canvas, and much like herself, the final product was beautifully unique. We are positive all the efforts made by the FPWR will continue to pave the way her future and that of all the PWS warriors!"

3rd place, Jack Miesle

"Jack was so excited to participate in the FPWR “Artist of the Year” auction this year. Jack is the resident mathematician in our family and absolutely LOVES all things math. Recently, he has been applying his love of math to the art that he creates.

For FPWR, he used scissors to cut tissue paper into squares and then glued them on to the canvas in concentric circles according to a strict color pattern.

He chose the words to include in the center burst of gold carefully, wanting to reflect both the art radiating from the center and also the happiness he feels by helping raise fund for PWS research.

Ultimately, he was so proud of his artwork, he was excited to watch the bids and donations rise based on his auction piece, and we were so so proud of him!"

Most Donors, Sofia Tweel

"Fia loves making art, so making art for a good cause makes great sense! Being chosen to be a part of the Art Auction was a huge honor, and it was even better because so many of our friends and family have us support and encouragement along the way.

We are always humbled by the support of our community- and we really believe in the mission of FPWR. We are so grateful for the opportunity!"

Are you interested in participating in the Artist of the Year Competition in 2024? 

The Artist of the Year Competition offers a unique opportunity to help raise funds for PWS/SYS Research. Participation is simple and fun! If you choose to participate, we will mail you a canvas that your child can paint any way they like. You can see from our sample art from previous auctions that there is a huge variety - anything goes!