Everyone Deserves A Portrait

Help fund a remarkable exhibition that celebrates a slice of New Zealand.

Highly acclaimed New Zealand artist, host of the television series “The Sitting” and winner of the 2012 Adam Portraiture Award; Stephen Martyn Welch firmly believes everyone needs a shot at life.

In Stephen’s television series The Sitting, he interviewed and painted celebrities with the express purpose of auctioning their artwork with all proceeds going to a charity close to his own heart, The Starship foundation.

In his latest project, Stephen will use his remarkable portraiture skills to paint 12 amazing kiwis, and then donate all the artworks to New Zealand. These 12 aren’t what most think are portrait material, it may be the guy who makes your morning coffee, a burn patient, someone with Down Syndrome, Cancer or Disease. He wants to celebrate people who have overcome huge odds, not only to improve their own health and wellbeing, but the often unseen daily struggle to lead a normal life.

The paintings will not be for sale, but will be exhibited in Auckland, Christchurch, Dunedin and finally to Wellington at Te Papa.

“I am a father of a disabled teenager. My son Scott was born with a genetic condition called Kabuki Make Up Syndrome. As far as I know there are 4-7 others in NZ with this condition. My wife and I were both 23 when Scott came into our lives. Numbness,confusion and panic are all I can remember of those early days and in those days there was no support, no social media for help, nothing. Over the next few years came heart surgeries, kidney stones, diaphramic hernias, deadly calcium loss and countless other conditions that come with his syndrome not to mention his intellectual disability which no medicine will cure.

My son has had profound effect on me, he is the reason I paint, and the reason I paint portraits. Scott is now 19 soon to be 20. He will never get a job, he can't live alone, needs 24hr supervision and still has real no understanding of how the world works and never will. BUT, Scott would do anything you asked of him, he would share anything he has; and he would love to sing you Howard Morrison's version of "How great thou art". I will do anything for him, and this is why I have chosen to undertake (with your support) this project on his behalf.

With your help I want to find 12 Kiwis for an world class Art Exhibition. These 12 portraits will show a slice of people living in NZ at this time,for us and future generations to come. If you can donate to our cause you will be saying these people in our community have all the rights we have. We all have dreams and we all want to be accepted and the people in our project are no different .

When you donate, please make sure to record you name, even if it's $1. When the works are displayed your name will be shared with the paintings to say you are part of the funding crew. Because without you I can't do this, I don't want to do this alone, I want as many people to be involved in this to say, no wait ........not to say .......but to shout out "WE SEE YOU...."

These are some of the people we are after:

Foster parents, terminally ill, a gay lesbian priest, the disfigured, NZs newest citizen, mentally disabled, just an all round good bastard, the homeless etc. If you have any other suggestions we would love to hear them.

Please help us get this project off the ground. You will be helping to fund artworks for the whole of New Zealand to enjoy. Thank you.