Lisa Porter Lawrence expands art, shelter mural program after Close Up Radio feature

Taos artist Lisa Porter Lawrence was featured on Close Up Radio on Aug. 10 as she expands a donation-funded mural and painting program for shelters and community centers in northern New Mexico. The interview highlighted her rejection of commercial portrait work, her new commissions beyond New Mexico and her second career in hypnosis.

Why it matters: - Lawrence is using her art to shape shared spaces for people in crisis, not just private collectors. - Her donation-funded Gifting Art Program places original artwork and murals in homeless shelters and community centers free of charge. - The effort links art to dignity, calm and a sense of agency in environments where residents often have little control.

What happened: - Close Up Radio featured visual artist Lisa Porter Lawrence in an interview with Doug Llewelyn on Monday, Aug. 10, at 12 p.m. Eastern. - The feature spotlighted Lawrence’s career across painting, murals, painted furniture, drawings and mixed media. - Lawrence is based in Taos, New Mexico, and works under Lisa Porter Lawrence, LLC. - Lawrence is also the author of "Art and You: Art for Your Mindset."

The details: - Lawrence said she turned down lucrative gallery opportunities in Manhattan in the 1970s and again in New Mexico in the 1990s when the work would have pushed her toward photo-realistic portraits of famous political figures. - One early offer followed a college assignment: a larger-than-life photo-real painting of an astronaut’s head that gallery owners wanted to expand into a series. - Lawrence chose instead to build a career around portraits, landscapes, painted furniture and murals guided by intuition as much as technique. - Lawrence still uses a grid method to transfer photographs onto canvas. - Lawrence says the eyes are the detail that most often brings a portrait to life. - Clients have told Lawrence that a finished portrait has helped them rethink strained relationships. - Lawrence moved west after a series of vivid visions and settled first in Santa Fe after a 1981 visit near the Rio Grande Gorge above Taos. - She painted "Chimera (no comma) Spirit Guardians of the Gorge" from memory after that visit. - After four decades in northern New Mexico, Lawrence moved to Taos in 2023. - The Gifting Art Program grew out of more than a year of volunteer work at a shelter in Las Vegas, New Mexico, where Lawrence chose wall colors and installed nature-inspired murals. - Shelter staff warned Lawrence that residents in crisis might damage the artwork, but the murals were left untouched even during a period when other walls, furniture and fixtures were damaged. - Lawrence says nature imagery can offer steadiness without judgment or history, which can be easier for people in crisis to accept. - Lawrence says the program is meant to send a message that the room and the people in it are worth the effort. - The program donates paintings and painted walls to outreach centers that want them but cannot afford them. - Lawrence says her broader philosophy is that surroundings shape mood, focus and a sense of agency. - That idea is outlined in her book "Art and You: Art for Your Mindset." - Lawrence is expanding commissioned work beyond New Mexico and accepting portraits of people, pets and places from photographs, usually emailed JPEGs. - She also accepts custom furniture and mixed media pieces using wood, papier-mâché and dried grasses. - Lawrence is starting a second career in hypnosis, which she describes as connected to her interest in imagery and suggestion. - Clients can expect progress photos and a collaborative process from start to finish.

Between the lines: - Lawrence’s rejection of commercially successful portrait formulas suggests she has prioritized artistic identity over higher-paying but repetitive work. - Her shelter program shows a practical view of art as an environmental tool, not just a collectible. - The hypnosis work fits the same theme: Lawrence is focused on how images, spaces and suggestion affect behavior and mindset.

What’s next: - Lawrence is continuing to take commissioned work from clients outside New Mexico. - She is also looking for additional shelters and outreach centers that want donated artwork or murals but cannot afford them. - Lawrence’s Taos gallery and studio are open by appointment. - More information is available at Lisa Porter Lawrence’s website. - The Close Up Radio episode is available on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio and Spotify.

The bottom line: - Lawrence is turning a long art career into a broader mission: making images that can change how people feel in the spaces they inhabit.