Artist sells painting for food bank donation

A Poway artist is using his paintings to give back to the community.

Patrick Korch, a professional artist who lives in Poway, recently placed one of his paintings at Village Consignment in Solana Beach, with the intention of donating the proceeds to The Community Food Connection, a Poway-based nonprofit food bank.

Though the store was closed due to COVID-19 restrictions, Korch said the owner put the painting in the window in order to sell it.

Korch received a call three weeks ago saying the painting had sold for $840.

The painting Patrick Korch sold, depicting La Jolla.

(Patrick Korch)

“I was surprised it received that much,” he said, adding the market for fine art has gone down since the beginning of the 2000s.

Korch donated the entire $840 to The Community Food Connection and said he hopes to sell more paintings so he can continue supporting the organization.

“Bill (Rearick) tells me that for each dollar donated it raises five pounds of food (18 cents a pound is his cost),” Korch said. “So, this donation raises about 150 pounds of food.”

Kotch presented Rearick with the check on July 1.

This is not Korch’s first effort with the food bank. He previously volunteered there, picking up food at local supermarkets, sorting food donations and passing out bags of food to community members in need. Though he is no longer able to physically volunteer, Korch said he still wants to help.

“I met Bill and Kim Rearick (the nonprofit’s founder and president) a few years back,” Korch said. “They’re great people.”

Korch said his new fundraising effort was inspired by a piece on the nonprofit on KUSI about a month ago saying it needed donations.

In addition to volunteering, Korch previously helped the food bank pay the fees required to gain its nonprofit status by selling a piece of his art in a consignment store. That is why Korch took this route again.

Korch said he hopes his donation will inspire other artists to sell their art in order to donate to the nonprofit, which has seen a sharp increase in visitors since the beginning of the pandemic.

He would like to sell more of his paintings to raise funds for the organization. Anyone interested in viewing his artwork can contact him at patkorch@gmail.com.