Art event to benefit local charities

Suzanne Luther poses in the Four Quarters Art House on 725 W. High St. Luther is remodeling the two-story house where she intends to rent rooms to bicyclists and use the profits to put into programs to help specific charitable causes.
Suzanne Luther poses in the Four Quarters Art House on 725 W. High St. Luther is remodeling the two-story house where she intends to rent rooms to bicyclists and use the profits to put into programs to help specific charitable causes.

Four Quarters Art House will hold an event tonight benefiting the HALO Foundation, the Central Missouri Foster Care and Adoption Agency, and Common Ground.

Six local musicians will take the stage at the event, which begins at 7 p.m. at The Bridge, 619 E. Capitol Ave. Other local artists will be displaying and selling art.

Admission is free, but attendees will be able to donate to HALO, CMFCAA and Common Ground.

CMFCAA educates, supports and advocates for foster and adoptive children. The HALO Foundation Home helps Transitional Living Program participants learn to cook their own meals, pay their own bills and take care of themselves independently. Common Ground offers temporary financial assistance and access to healthy food to Jefferson City residents in need.

Four Quarters Art House is a for-profit business, which hopes to employ local artists to decorate homes. Eventually, the business' owner, Suzanne Luther, wants to give 10 percent of its proceeds to charities that benefit Jefferson City's homeless residents. Luther, a retired art teacher, founded the business three years ago.

Right now, she is renovating a 108-year-old house at 725 W. High St. and turning it into a bed and breakfast. To help her get the project off the ground, Luther hopes people will give a small fraction of what they would give to other charities to her business so it can create a long-lasting revenue stream for those charities in the future.

Luther said the event is a chance to prove her business model works.

"I want it to demonstrate how it's a cycle," she said. "Four Quarters Art House is not a nonprofit, but a social enterprise, so if you want to add momentum to this cycle, follow us."

As Luther began the renovation, she hit delays due to wiring issues and problems with water in the home's basement. She described the water issue as a minor one that could be put off by a homeowner but not the owner of a bed and breakfast.

Previously, Luther said the renovations to the home would cost at least $45,000. Fixing the additional issues will not inflate her budget, though, because she took over art projects that had been included in the total.

"Challenges, they're frustrating, but that's a catalyst to a more creative solution," Luther said.