Teen puts Artistic Talent to Charitable use

THE WOODLANDS, Texas - For the past year, Adrianne Gerlach, 16, a sophomore at The Woodlands High School, has been drawing portraits of abused horses to raise funds for an animal shelter in Golden, Colorado. She is a western and wildlife artist and has been drawing since the 7th grade. Starting on October 21, 2010, her artwork will be auctioned online with all of the proceeds going to the Foothills Animal Shelter, which took in the 16 horses and a donkey that she drew.

The story begins over a year ago when Gerlach, who was living in Arvada, CO at the time, heard about the abused horses being seized by Jefferson County Animal Control from a nearby ranch. (Gerlach and her family have lived in The Woodlands and Arvada back and forth over the past ten years.) The horses had been abused in the past but were not removed from the owner. When one of the horses was reported being pulled across the pasture by a pickup truck, Jefferson County Animal Control stepped in and seized all of the animals.

About the same time, Gerlach had been admiring the photography of Pam Nickoles, a well-known photographer of wild mustangs who lived nearby in Golden. Nickoles donated photos of the abused animals that she had taken to the shelter and offered to allow Adrianne to draw them at no charge. They decided to partner and the funds would all go to benefit the shelter.

Grizzly Creek Framing, a framing company in Golden, heard of the effort and donated all of the matting and framing for the auction. Adrianne visited the horses at the shelter, so she could get to know them and see their personalities. She took photos to remember them and drew most of the portraits from Pam Nickoles' photos.

It's taken a little over a year for this project to come to completion and Adrianne dedicated a lot of her free time to drawing the portraits. “I hope that not only will the shelter benefit from the proceeds, but also that some awareness will come about to help the abused horses - the ones living near us in our neighborhoods and the wild horses that are losing their homes and being sold to slaughter in Colorado and Wyoming,” Gerlach said.

Over the course of fifteen plus months, Foothills Animal Shelter paid more than $40,000 for the medical needs and daily expense and care of the horses.The portraits will help raise funds for a new multi- million dollar shelter. This support will help to ensure that Foothills Animal Shelter can continue to care for all animals in need, just like these horses and donkey. To view her artwork or bid in the fundraising auction, please see the links below. The online auction ends on December 1, 2010 at noon.

In addition to going to school, Adrianne rides hunter/jumper in Magnolia and volunteers at the Panther Creek Inspiration Ranch. She is also involved in the Art Club, Ann Marie Hopkins Art Alliance, FFA, and Christian clubs at TWHS and recently joined The Woodlands Art League. She hopes to attend Texas A&M and plans to tryout for the equestrian team.

Woodlands Online salutes Adrianne for her commitment to community service and her efforts to help abused animals.