“A self-portrait by Thakchoe, a refugee child who is almost deaf, portrays him dressed in his best traditional Tibetan clothes as he offers the deities a torma, or ritual cake, to appease or ask favor from the spirits. The photographs and paintings are reproduced on note cards by Great Path Publishing.Visit the exhibitAn opening reception for The Art of the Painting Club will be held Saturday, Aug. 25, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Bayview Gallery, celebrating the art of Tibetan and Sri Lanka children and a new line of note cards, journals and prints by Freeland’s Great Path Publishing, with proceeds to benefit the children. There will be food and drink, and a short film will be shown. Two members of the Friends of the Tibetan Women’s Association will be among the guests. The exhibit will continue through Sept. 3. For more information call 331-7099 or visit Great Path Publishing.Victory and Rob Schouten, owners of Great Path Publishing in Freeland, have announced a new line of greeting cards, journals, and prints featuring the artwork of Tibetan children living in exile in India, as well as art by orphaned Sri Lankan children and a number of photographs depicting their worlds. All profits from the sale of the the products will go directly to benefit the children.Poet Victory Schouten and artist Rob Schouten formed Great Path Publishing in 1988 to provide a medium for reproducing Rob Schouten’s work at a reasonable cost. Since then, the company has sold cards across the country and the world. It has been wonderful to learn how many people deeply connect with the artwork we publish, Victory Schouten said.There are currently more than 125 images by 19 artists in the Great Path collection. The number will grow significantly with the release of the new line, featuring paintings by nine young Tibetan and Sri Lankan artists plus photographs of the artists themselves. These children participated in The Painting Club, an organization founded by the Friends of the Tibetan Women’s Association (FOTWA) to help children paint, play, and heal.The Painting Club was conceived by Sarah K. Lukas, president of FOTWA, as a way of providing a venue of creativity and healing for refugee children at Tibetan Homes Foundation, established in 1962 in Mussoorie, India under the direction of the Dalai Lama to receive the waves of refugee children arriving from Tibet. The foundation is committed to preserving Tibetan traditions and culture, and today has 1,800 students enrolled, from age nine to 18.In the month-long Painting Clubs, schoolchildren created art about life in Tibet, the frightening journey out and life at school in India. Making paintings became a way of expressing feelings and exploring the experience of exile, Lucas wrote. Together with FOTWA’s program director Kitty Leaken, Lucas will be one of the guests at the opening reception on Saturday. The event will also feature the showing of a film called Dance of the Young Nomads, depicting through art, photography and film the lives of the youth living in exile at the Tibetan Homes Foundation in India.On exhibit will be original art by the children, photographs by Leaken, art donated by Painting Club instructor Sonam Chophel and by Rob Schouten, as well as the new cards, prints, and journals. Also available will be copies of a book about the children of The Painting Club called The Art of Exile. All proceeds from all sales will go to programs directly benefiting the children.We are very excited to be collaborating with FOTWA to produce these beautiful products featuring the art of the Painting Club children, said Victory Schouten, Great Path’s managing director. Using the children’s own art to spread their message and raise money for their programs seems perfect to us. The international language of art has already helped these children to heal, and encouraged their creative spirits to soar – now their art will raise money and support for the children as well, she said.It’s important to us and to our customers that the work we publish offers a positive earth-friendly vision which contributes to a holistic unfolding of our human story.Rob Schouten added, We’re hosting the exhibit and reception not only to celebrate the new line but the fact that all profits will directly benefit children. And there will be some incredible original art by these children.The Art of The Painting Club exhibit will continue through Sept. 3 in Bayview Gallery, located at 5603 S. Bayview Road at the historic Bayview Corner. The gallery phone number is 360.321.4535.To purchase the Painting Club’s cards, journals and prints, go to Great Path Publishing or call 360.331.7099 or 1.800.858.5063.TWA and FOTWAThe The Tibetan Women’s Association (TWA) was founded in 1959 in memory of the Tibetan women who died at the Potala Palace during the Chinese military invasion. Headquartered in Dharamsala, India, with 36 branches and over 6,000 members, TWA is dedicated to helping Tibetan women. The organization focuses on cultural preservation by supporting the elderly, children’s education, religious studies for women, improved women’s access to health care, child care and education, and the distribution of sponsorship money.The Friends of the Tibetan Women’s Association (FOTWA) is a nonprofit educational organization whose mission is to aid Tibetans living in exile and to expand worldwide awareness of the refugee experience. As written in the FOTWA mission statement: It is a difficult journey for Tibetans leaving their homeland; sponsors lessen the hardships by providing funds for food and shelter, education and family support, clean water and medicine. When basic needs are met, the important work of cultural preservation begins.Through projects such as the Painting Club, FOTWA encourages creative spirits to soar and, in the international language of art, spread the story of Tibet. This is the story of the refugee experience and how people, with the aid of their culture, religion and traditions, seek to rebuild their lives.Sources: The Tibetan Women’s Association and Friends of the Tibetan Women’s Association. “