Studio offers free portraits for health workers
Keisha Mason, a registered nurse who works in the emergency department at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, left her husband and three sons in Arizona to work in a New Jersey hospital overwhelmed with coronavirus patients.
There, she worked 12-hour shifts five to six days per week in the emergency room and helped treat critically ill patients, most of whom were “intubated for weeks at a time,” she told The Arizona Republic.
Mason, who served in the military for 20 years, was confident that her decision to travel across the country and risk her life working with infectious patients was the right one.
“If (Arizona) were hit as bad as (New Jersey), I’d love for people to come here and help,” she said.
She was quarantining in a New Jersey hotel and waiting for her coronavirus test results to come in when she came across an advertisement on social media about a Scottsdale portrait studio offering free family portraits to front-line healthcare workers.
Mason had seen offers of free services for those in the health-care industry before, but many are not as altruistic as they seem, she said. She was initially skeptical but browsed Siena Artè Portraiture’s website and thought, “Wow, this looks amazing!”
She eventually submitted her information and registered for the “portrait gift,” which has a retail value of $900.
She soon received a call from Connie and Bob Zimmerlich, the studio’s owners. They thanked her for her work and scheduled a portrait session for her family in September.
The Zimmerliches, who specialize in family relationship portraiture, had been looking for a way to thank healthcare workers for their sacrifices and received positive responses to family portrait sessions from hospitals in the Valley.
“You’ve gotta realize family is number one because you’re not promised tomorrow,” Mason said. “I have no good family pictures so this free photo session was quite the blessing.”
How health-care workers can register for a free portrait
Siena Artè Portraiture is offering photo sessions at its Scottsdale studio beginning in August. Families can take home an “heirloom quality 14-inch pho
tographic (non-painted) family wall portrait” for free.
Registration can be submitted online at http://www.sienasupportsnurses.com or by calling the studio at 480565-2920.
“Health-care professionals on the front line of the COVID-19 crisis (and) first responders” who live in the Valley are eligible for the portrait gift, Bob Zimmerlich said.
Appointments will be available from Aug. 1, 2020, to Aug. 1, 2021, though the dates are flexible. The Zimmerliches are looking to provide portraits for 400 to 500 families.
“If we have more requests than that, we would do our best to accommodate as many as we can,” Zimmerlich said.
“We do not want anyone to ever feel rushed into scheduling their session with us, so even though we have mentioned the donation is good to be used up to a year, we are glad to schedule beyond that point if it becomes necessary.”
Staff will follow all recommended health and safety guidelines during a session, according to the studio’s website.
If a family chooses to make a purchase, special pricing will be available, Zimmerlich said, but there is no obligation.
Siena Artè Portraiture
Where: 8900 E. Pinnacle Peak Road, Scottsdale.
When: Front-line health-care workers can schedule a free portrait session from Aug. 1, 2020, through Aug. 1, 2021.
Details: 480-565-2920, http://www.sienasupportsnurses.com.
“We are glad to have the opportunity to have met them and their family and create a portrait for them,” he said.