Acclaimed New England artist and longtime North End resident Sam Vokey has donated his artwork to be featured on holiday cards from Rosie’s Place, the first women’s shelter in the United States.
Sales from the annual holiday card program help underwrite the vital programs and services Rosie’s Place provides for poor and homeless women in Boston. The organization’s newest card features a print of Vokey’s oil painting Boston Winter Twilight, adding another Boston winter image to the collection of five designs available for purchase.
Vokey, who has supported Rosie’s Place for the past 20 years, says that he was happy to participate in the program. “I donated my artwork because I believe in the work Rosie’s Place is doing,” he says. “I think they have a great mission and I like that Rosie’s Place spends its money wisely—you know that your money is going directly to help the women they serve.”
Founded in 1974, Rosie’s Place not only provides meals and shelter, but also creates answers for 12,000 women a year through wide-ranging support, housing and education services.
Residing in Boston’s North End for 16 years before recently relocating to New Hampshire, Vokey has been designated a Copley Artist and is a member of the Guild of Boston Artists. He also received the Tarbell Award, the R.H. Ives Gammell Award and the John Singleton Copley Award. His work has been featured in several nationwide publications and is included in major private and public collections, including the Cape Cod Museum of Art, Merrill Lynch, Bank of Boston, Henry Kravis and former presidents of both Ireland and Uruguay.
About the holiday card program, Vokey says, “People buy cards anyway, so why not have the money go to a good cause like helping women who are a little down on their luck?”
To order holiday cards and learn more about Rosie’s Place, go to www.rosiesplace.org/holidaycards.
