The Brown & White

Lehigh and the surrounding community have united to assist Bethlehem resident and internationally renowned artist, Gregory Warmack, better known as Mr. Imagination, who lost all of his personal belongings in a fire.

Collected artwork, personal art pieces and his dog Pharaoh were lost in the fire.

Several events have been organized by the community and Lehigh students to raise funds for Warmack.

Silagh White, administrative director of Arts Lehigh, started a Facebook group to keep people informed about Warmack's relief efforts and how to donate. The group is rapidly growing and currently has 125 members.

"[Warmack] is about as authentic as people get," White said. "He lives, he breathes, he sleeps his art."

White said she received a gift her first day at Lehigh, an art piece done by Warmack. She said she was instantly intrigued with outsider art.

"He has a level of intensity that a lot of people would never have," White said. "[Warmack's] life balance was his work. Everything about his life is art."

Greg Heller-LaBelle has been friends with Warmack for more than a decade.

"There are up days, and there are down days," Heller-LaBelle said. "[The hardest thing for] anyone that has a very close friend go through a major tragedy is knowing there isn't anything that you can do. We're trying to help out with practical things. These things take a while."

Heller-LaBelle has been assisting in the Warmack relief-fund by collecting donations to make up for Warmack's lost belongings.

He said he is glad to see the support of both the Bethlehem and art community.

"One of the nice things that has emerged is that the community has showed up to help on busy days when they were cleaning the house," Heller-LaBelle said. "People showed up that barely knew him. There has also been a huge outpouring of support from national art community. People are offering him a lot of things. It's been wonderful."

Warmack has received clothes, appliances and furniture donations but is still accepting money or assistance from lawyers or accountants to help him rebuild, Heller-LaBelle said.

In an effort to help Warmack, the Funhouse is hosting an event called, Jivin' for Mr. I. during February. The event has raised more than $900.

Allentown resident Francesca Olmos said the fundraiser was successful.

"It was a really good idea," Olmos said. "All the people in Bethlehem care for him, and it was a good reason to go."

Olmos, who became familiar with Warmack through a friend, admires his creativity and artwork.

"I thought it was amazing that he could build such beautiful things out of so many little items," Olmos said. "His house was full of everything and anything he made. You could barely move in there, but it was beautiful. It's a shame that it is gone."

Kristen Wagner, '08, said although many of her peers were not aware of the tragedy, the event illustrated a bond between Lehigh and the community.

"It was really sad to me that a lot of students didn't know about the fire and things happening in our community," Wagner said. "We are kind of in this bubble. The main reason I wanted to incorporate is to create an awareness that students need to interact with the community more, and this was a great way of doing that."

Wagner has arranged for some of the proceeds from the A Capella Invitational, held Saturday, to go to Warmack's relief fund.

"I immediately wanted to donate to the Mr. I. fund to directly affect someone," Wagner said. "It felt like the right thing to do at the time."

Through her volunteering, Wagner said she became more familiarized with Warmack's art.

"He is doing what he loves and that in itself is moving," Wagner said.