Thaddaeus Tekell Celebration of Life and Art

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Celebration of Life & Art in memory of Thaddaeus Tekell!

With a packed house, we honored Thaddaeus with a bench dedication and by sharing memories and stories about him throughout the evening. We cried through Thaddaeus’ final art show at Daybreak, but found joy in seeing his remaining art pieces find homes. Thaddaeus showed us that art could connect people and was more powerful than any diagnosis or mental illness. We are honored to have had the opportunity to work alongside him and to showcase his beautiful artwork. His absence will be deeply felt by all of us In honor of Thaddaeus, let us continue to create and celebrate art that challenges social norms, elicits new ways of thinking, and embodies beauty.

“The powers that be, they don’t want damn homeless people around but they don’t want to help them either… It’s that kind of hypocrisy that makes me angry. I feel like it’s kind of my responsibility to in both a fun way and in a serious artsy way–give some credibility to me, this organization, and the arts community in general. I see art as a platform for my activism, but I want to do it with a sense of humor because no one wants to be preached at. I don’t feel free unless everybody is free. I know that’s an ideal that can never be reached just like the teachings of Jesus and Buddha are too. People are never going to live in peace, but you know that’s something to work toward.” –Thaddaeus Tekell