“Happy Accident Still Changing Lives for the Better”

By Phoenix Roberts for PrimeTimes Newspaper

“I was amazed,” says Corrine Turner of her discovery. You would be, too. Turner had purchased what she thought was a roll of wallpaper for 99¢ at The Basement, an Ogden discount store. She bought it for her daughter, but the 12-year-old wasn’t interested, so the roll sat around for months. When Turner finally opened it, she had what appeared to be five paintings on canvas!

In a recent interview, Turner said she felt, “that it really wasn’t ours because it was probably stolen.”  She contacted Adam Warner, owner of Mountain Trails Gallery in Park City, who identified them as giclee (“jee-clay”) prints by the Italian-born artist known as Pino Daeni-worth around $1200.00 each!  Giclee is a process by which art is reproduced on canvas to resemble an actual painting.

Warner contacted Pino’s son, Max Dangelico, who initially thought the prints were forgeries and asked they be sent to New York. They weren’t fakes or thefts-they’d been lost from a shipment bound for Baltimore-and were soon returned to the Turners. How they ended up in Ogden is a mystery that will probably never be solved, but when Basement owners Mike & Julie Stoof refused the return of the prints, or even a cut of the profits, this strange tale came to a happier ending than anyone might have anticipated. Turner, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2001, decided to sell the prints and donate the proceeds to the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation (NMSF).

This led to an interview on Good Morning America, where Turner met Max, who donated half a million dollars to the fight against MS and unveiled a new Pino work entitled Tenderness. Inspired by Turner’s generosity and their own experience (Pino and Max have a close relative with MS) they designated profits from all sales of Tenderness prints to help fight MS in Utah.

Two of the prints were to be sold last summer through a gallery at the Blue Boar Inn, a bed & breakfast in Midway, but the Inn decided to buy the prints for its own collection. Other sales followed, the original five from The Basement plus another 495 donated by Pino with his permission to sell them at very low prices-prints bought one year ago for $1,200 are now valued at twice to three times that amount.

Pino Daeni’s life has been a classic American success story. He was successful in his native Italy, but immigrated to the US in 1979 seeking greater artistic freedom. Here, stardom eluded him and his gallery work was sidelined as he earned a living illustrating romance novel covers. Over the course of 13 years, he became the artist of choice for Harlequin, Penguin, Dell and other publishers, completing some 3,000 covers, many featuring an unknown fellow Italian named Fabio as a model. Ultimately, Pino became the dominant influence in that market and made Fabio a worldwide superstar. Pino recently published Contemporary Realism, a coffee table art book, and his originals now command $35,000 to $70,000, if you can find them. (Some originals can be purchased through The Art of Giving).

“I’m especially grateful to the Stoofs because their inspiration led us to this,” says Turner.  Earlier this year, she became aware of the tremendous MS problem that exists in Utah-a thistle among the Beehive State’s sego lilies is its soon-to-be-announced ranking as the state with the highest percentage of MS sufferers. Inspired by her stepdaughters, Sherilynn and Desire, Turner created the Desilynne Multiple Sclerosis Foundation (DMSF) to assist the estimated 10,000 Utahns with MS.

Continued support from Pino, matched by funds donated by area businesses, propelled Turner to give up running the operation from her home.  A gallery, cleverly named The Art of Giving, opened in March 2004 in downtown Salt Lake City’s Gateway shopping mall. It is a professional gallery to the casual glance, but it may be entirely unique in how it operates: The space is mostly donated by the Gateway, the stock is donated or purchased at very low prices, staff members are mostly volunteers-many with MS, others have friends or relatives with the disease. Several local artists have joined Pino in supporting The Art of Giving. Jason Clark, for example, who was born in Salt Lake City, was the gallery’s featured artist for August.  These native talents get very positive exposure to the community and profits from sales of their work also contribute to DMSF.

Thus far, Turner and friends have brought in almost $200,000 to support those dealing with this still-mysterious neurological disease. “We make a huge impact in people’s lives now,” says Turner, who is grateful that NMSF tries to keep donations in the community where they are raised. Just over one year after the first print was sold, Corinne Turner is still in awe of what has happened. “I just love it. I feel so privileged to be a part of this. I’m amazed at the generosity of the people who made this come together.”

For now, the future looks bright. Turner has been symptom free since beginning this project and hopes to expand The Art of Giving. “We hope to bring in more art,” she says, “and become a full-fledged frame shop.” That causes a momentary silence in our interview. “I never imagined I’d be doing this, but,” she adds with a smile, “I’m good at framing.” That, it is safe to say, isn’t the only thing Corinne Turner is good at.

Contributors are always welcome at the gallery.  If you are an artist willing to donate your work, or a community member wishing to donate your time and effort, please contact:

The Art of Giving, 74 South Rio Grande Street, Salt Lake City UT 84101

Tel: 801-456-2787; Fax: 801-456-2789; Toll Free: 888-289-2660; Website: www.utahms.org.