…currently on display at the NCCLF offices, 870 Market Street, Suite 677, in San Francisco.  Our walls are graced by seven large and colorful paintings on loan from one of our talented co-founders, Helen S. Cohen of San Francisco.

In the mid 1980s, Helen had a vision of an organization that would pool resources with the intention of loaning money to nonprofits that were working in low-income communities.  That vision became the Northern California Community Loan Fund, now in its twenty-fourth year of providing financial resources and technical training throughout Northern California.

 Helen’s painting career began in 1995 when her daughter started pre-school.  Her style is influenced by “simple, natural forms – the personality, volume and energy they convey in different configurations.  I love the varied qualities and gestures of lines – how they meander around the canvas, connecting some shapes, setting others apart…..my paintings tend to be joyful as well as mysterious and odd…”

 In addition to her painting, Helen has been involved with film making for many years.  Before starting her own independent film making company in 2004, Helen was co-director of Women’s Educational Media (now Groundspark), a nonprofit organization specializing in the production and distribution of social issue documentaries.

 To view this dramatic show, please drop by our offices any weekday from 9:00 a.m. -  5:00 p.m.  We have a price list available should you be interested.   And for further information about Helen, please go to her website, http://www.openstudioproductions.com/.