In 2014 Stephen Ninnes held a simple
Saturday morning art class where people could come together and learn how to paint.
Six people came to
that first class. That was the beginning of what would become the Art with Love Foundation.
What started in a shed in the Brisbane suburb of Bulimba grew rapidly and on a visit to Florence in 2015, Stephen and Leticia purchased a building and opened up an art class every three months when they visited. The classes were so popular that they soon engaged artist Alessandra Camera to run classes there every week.
Today more than
500 people of all ages and abilities attend free art classes in Brisbane and Florence entirely funded by
Stephen Ninnes
and Leticia Francini through the Art with Love Foundation which covers the costs of
running the classes including paints, brushes, canvases and teachers.
Stephen and
Leticia’s vision is that the Art with Love Foundation will outlive them and continue to provide a safe space
where people of all
ages and abilities can come to paint, learn the history and techniques of the
Renaissance painters and be together in a community.
