When art stops being only about beauty and starts being a force for care, a town notices. The Plettenberg Bay Arts Association (PAA) has handed over R21,000 to Hospice Plett after its hugely popular Brush Strokes and Beyond exhibition — part of this year’s Plett Arts Festival — converted creativity into concrete community support. The donation was raised through sales of work and a charity raffle; 42 artworks found new homes during the show. The cheque handover at the Hospice Plett Charity Shop brought together Hospice representatives Cecily van Heerden, Russel Braun and Philippa Sauvenier with PAA members in a warm, gratitude-filled moment.
This is community fundraising at its simplest and most effective: local artists make, visitors buy, and a vital local care charity benefits. Jill Forbes, Chairperson of the Plettenberg Bay Arts Association, summed it up plainly: “It was an honour to dedicate this year’s exhibition to supporting their life-changing work. This donation is a celebration of community spirit and generosity.” Lady Annabelle Conyngham, Chair of Hospice Plett, responded with heartfelt thanks: “What an achievement. My heartfelt thanks to you and your team for this remarkable contribution – made all the more special by the joy and enthusiasm with which it was raised.” (Quotes supplied by PAA.)
How the money was raised — and why it matters
Brush Strokes and Beyond ran as part of the Plett Arts Festival program from early October and showcased work across media: oils, acrylics, pastel, watercolour, charcoal and mixed media. The PAA made the exhibition a fundraiser by committing 10% of art sales to Hospice Plett and running a raffle whose prizes were donated by local businesses and artists — an approach that turned every purchase and every ticket into practical support for palliative care in the Bitou region. The festival listing and PAA event pages confirm the exhibition’s charitable focus and community workshops that drew crowds.
Hospice Plett (the PlettAid Foundation) provides home-based palliative care, the Plett Wellness Programme and community screening initiatives that reach thousands annually across the Bitou area. The organisation’s services — from professional nursing and counselling to medical-equipment rental and volunteer programmes — rely on regular donations and local fundraising to sustain outreach into Kwanokuthula and surrounding communities. For Hospice Plett, the R21,000 boost is more than a line item: it helps keep nurses on the road and funds life-improving services for people with life-limiting illnesses. plettaid.org
Artists, visitors and local business — a true collective effort
The success of Brush Strokes and Beyond was a team performance. PAA thanked Plett Tourism for logistical support, local businesses for donating raffle prizes, and every artist and visitor whose purchase or participation powered the donation. The exhibition also ran hands-on workshops — from children’s art sessions to wet-felting and clay demos — that increased foot traffic and connected families to the festival’s charitable core. Those workshops, the raffle and the accessible pricing model turned art appreciation into an act of giving.
For many Plettenberg Bay residents, Hospice Plett is a familiar presence: its charity shop, wellness screenings and home-based palliative teams form the backbone of end-of-life and community health services in the area. That familiarity gave the exhibition’s fundraising an emotional urgency: donors knew exactly where their money would go and the people it would help. The public handover at the charity shop was intentionally intimate — a community thanking a community — and it reinforced the trust between civic organisations, creatives and care workers.
Bigger picture: why local arts philanthropy matters
Small-venue arts fundraising like the PAA’s exhibition often flies under the national radar, but it’s central to how towns keep essential services afloat. By committing a slice of sales and running engagement-driven activities (raffles, workshops, live portraits), arts associations mobilise visitors, tourists and residents into immediate, measurable impact. For Plettenberg Bay, where tourism and local enterprise intersect, the arts-funds-care model multiplies value: it showcases local creatives, drives festival attendance and channels revenue to healthcare and wellness initiatives that would otherwise be underfunded. plettartsfestival.co.za
What’s next for PAA and Hospice Plett
The Plettenberg Bay Arts Association says it will keep building on this winning template — exhibitions, artist collaborations and community workshops that combine culture with cause. Hospice Plett has reiterated its gratitude and highlighted how donations support both the charity shop (a sustainable income stream) and core nursing and wellness operations. The relationship is a reminder: when arts groups and care charities collaborate transparently, everyone benefits — artists sell, audiences engage, and essential services receive the funding they need.
