Glass artists organize a high-level fundraising auction to help one of their own

A family photo from the “Help Finn Win” benefit website to help raise money for leukemia treatment, featuring Kate Thorbeck, Finn, and Paul Cunningham. Photo: Russell Johnson

Outstanding works donated by Dale Chihuly, Lino Tagliapietra, Preston Singletary, Dante Marioni, Ben Moore for sale to generate funding. The latest Pilchuck benefit? Not this time. Taking a page from the successful benefit auctions by nonprofit arts organizations around the country, some of the top glass artists have handed over top-flight works to raise money for one of their own. Paul Cunningham, a fixture on the Seattle glass scene for three decades, and his wife, Kate Thorbeck, herself a glassblower for 10 years before starting a beauty products business, have a 2-year-old boy named Finn who was diagnosed with leukemia in February 2013. His treatment at one of the best children’s hospitals in the country, Seattle Children’s Hospital, is proceeding well, but the multiple visits per week and increased childcare demands have taken a toll on the family’s finances. In fact, Cunningham has put his glass career on hold for more steady income and health insurance as a carpenter. Witnessing the financial challenges cancer treatment can impose, the close-knit Seattle glass community has rallied around the family and come up with an extraordinary benefit called “Help Finn Win” that will be held at the Chihuly Boathouse on September 19th, with 100-percent of the proceeds going directly to the Cunningham/Thorbeck family.

John Kiley, Curved Twilight Overlap. Blown glass, cut and polished. H 12, W 10, D 11 in. $8,500.

“We all give to good causes, glass schools and art organizations all the time,” explained glass artist John Kiley in a telephone interview with the GLASS Quarterly Hot Sheet. “Here was an opportunity to help one of our good friends. Paul and Kate are incredibly loved people out here.” Spearheaded by friends such as Kiley and Jenny Wittlinger, the idea of a benefit to support the family quickly gained momentum. You could say it took on a life of its own. The Chihuly organization agreed to host the event at the Boathouse and Sean O’Neil helped secure items for the silent auction. Esteemed photographer Russell Johnson donated his time to photograph the family for the “Help Finn Winn” Website Wittlinger created. Crescent Calimpong is coordinating logistics with professional event planner Amy Vernette. Glassybaby, the successful hand-blown glass tumbler business, is paying to cater the food. And the artists have eagerly come forward with some of their most expensive works.

Dale Chihuly, Tabac Basket with Drawing Shard and Oxblood Body Wrap. Blown glass, cane drawing. H 10, W 10, D 10 in. $20,000.

“Donating is not something we ask friends and each other to do lightly,” says Kiley. “You can literally be asked to donate more pieces than you sell. But to have a chance to give something to a cause that is really that close to home and can make a difference in our own family, it’s an important thing to do when you have a chance.” Significant money will be raised through the sales of $75 tickets to the Boathouse event, with more coming in from a silent auction. But the $75,000 goal has a very good chance of being exceeded substantially thanks to the generosity of participating artists who are at the top of the glass art field. The list of “Gold Section” artists is an all-star roster: Dale Chihuly, Nancy Callan, Paul Cunningham, John Kiley, Dante Marioni, Benjamin Moore, Janusz Pozniak, Davide Salvadore, Ethan Stern, Preston Singletary, Lino Tagliapietra, and Dave Walters. The works, which are for sale before, during and after the September 19th event, can be viewed on an online catalog on the “Help Finn Winn” Website.

Lino Tagliapietra, Bilbao. Blown glass. H 29 1/4, W 11 1/2, D 6 1/4 in. $55,000

Finn’s travails began with a bump on his neck which his parents noticed one day last winter. “He had a swollen lymph node on his neck one day, and I touched it, and it was hard,” said Paul Cunningham in a telephone interview with the Hot Sheet. Blood work ordered by the pediatrician raised concerns, and further testing confirmed the doctor’s fears. Finn was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

“It was a huge shock,” says Cunningham. “Finn had never been sick, we’re very diligent about nutrition, he’d never had juice or pop — only water or milk, all sorts of good stuff. It was a total, total surprise.” Finn began treatment — chemo and steroid therapy — almost immediately after diagnosis, and they are nearing the 8-month mark. By November, there will be a shift to “maintenance” therapy, continuation of treatment at a level to keep the leukemia from returning, which can take an additional three years.

Kate Thorbeck has curtailed her esthetician business to make time for the frequent trips to Seattle Children’s Hospital, at least an hour each way, sometimes three times a week. With his immune system weakened from the treatment, Finn no longer attends preschool, and spends most of his time at home under his mother’s watchful eye. The fundraiser, and the extreme generosity of their circle of friends, has been immensely touching to the family, and has started to change the way they view their own ordeal.

Dante Marioni, Blue Reticello Acorn. Blown glass. H 9, W 9, D 13 in. $10,000

“There’s a lot you can focus on that is negative,” Thorbeck told the Hot Sheet in a telephone interview. “But the longer that we are going through this, in a way, I feel really lucky. You should just see how much love is around Finn. It’s in an acute time of sickness, that’s when people really show it.”

As the donated work started to come in, as the hours of work to build the Website and plan the fundraiser were invested by volunteers working to bring the ambitious project to fruition, Cunningham and Thorbeck were humbled and moved by the outpouring. Then they were awestruck by the quality of the work being donated

“It’s just beyond me,” says Cunningham. “I’m speechless – I don’t know what to say, other than it’s a testament to the truly collaborative nature of the Seattle glass community and the deep generosity of the people I’ve spent the last 30 years working with, living with, being around. ... It’s filled up our hearts with this giant boost of love.”

The money raised will help the family feel a greater sense of financial security. “We’re not about to lose our house,” says Thorbeck. “But we don’t have a lot of extra money. Whatever money is raised will help us feel a lot less financial stress. It will mean a lot to have it there when things come up. I think it will mean the most for Finn, having us be more present, not having to scramble as much.” Thorbeck and Cunningham also mentioned possibly donating some of the money to the Seattle Children’s Hospital where Finn has been treated.

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