Charles Bruce
For 10 years, a local foundation has been making the idea of the “starving artist” less of a reality.
The Carlisle-based Charles Bruce Foundation supports musicians and artists by providing them with paid work opportunities through performing at local nonprofit events and illustrating books for its nonprofit publishing house.
“Everybody wants you [artists] to work for free,” said Pat LaMarche, the self-proclaimed “chief cook and bottle washer” for the foundation.
Nonprofits simply don’t have funds for the luxury of music at events, so the Charles Bruce Foundation assists by providing those funds. Libraries, shelters and the Carlisle Arts Learning Center (CALC) have been on the receiving end of that assistance.
“Because they support writers, artists and musicians, if we are having an event, they will pay for a musician,” said Catherine Stone, CALC executive director. “Because, of course, we all believe artists should get paid for their work.”
In a collaborative effort, CALC hosts book launches for the foundation. Last fall, CALC facilitated an art show focused on the Charles Bruce Foundation book, “American Roulette,” which highlights gun violence in America.
“Many times, we have a book come out, and we have the artists provide the artwork and then do an art show,” LaMarche said. “Then you can buy the book and maybe a piece of original art.”
Revenue from books provides a portion of the funding for the foundation. These books include “The Priscilla” series, which addresses family homelessness; “The Doody Story,” which, as the title suggests, is about potty products; and “Humble Pie,” which offers stories about hunger and recipes that stretch the dollar.
“What we offer to authors is the opportunity to be published,” LaMarche said.
Literacy is another important focus of the foundation, which has given away over 10,000 books through its 10-year history. Children can walk into a Cumberland County system library and request a free copy of a Charles Bruce Foundation book.
“We want to get books into the hands of kids,” LaMarche said. “When you read the studies, if a child owns 12 of their own books, they’re twice as likely to finish high school.”
Really Proud
All this writer, artist and musician aid began with the foundation’s namesake, Charles Bruce.
Charles Bruce was a lieutenant colonel who, with his wife, helped rebuild Austria after World War II. While there, they visited an orphanage and met a little boy, who became their son, Chad Bruce. Chad was the opposite of his father.
“This military man who fought in World War II, Korea and four tours of Vietnam, he was highly decorated, adopts a kid who likes to draw pictures and sing songs,” LaMarche said. “And he doesn’t get mad at him. He takes the door off the hinges and makes him an art table.”
Chad birthed the Charles Bruce Foundation from an intense gratitude for his parents’ support of his artistic nature.
“I feel fortunate that I was given opportunities to pursue my creative goals, and the extent that I can provide others with similar opportunities is my desire,” said Chad Bruce, the foundation’s executive director.
His parents would likely be proud of his awards that came in the form of musical accomplishments as a harmonicist, playing at President Barack Obama’s inauguration, and his exceptional talents as a book designer and artist.
The foundation began out of Chad’s dream to help artists, but with no real plan for how to do that. Then he met LaMarche.
“Before, I was just hoping something would happen, but I didn’t quite know what,” he said. “Patty showed me, and, together, we worked on it and have made a success of it.”
Today, Chad uses his skills on the drawing board, doing much of the book designing. LaMarche contributes as a writer, but also as an organizer and logistician.
LaMarche employed the latter skill three years ago to begin the Homeless Memorial Blanket project. This social justice art display involves coordinating and collecting hundreds of hand-crocheted, knitted and quilted blankets and uniting them on the ground to make a giant art memorial to those who have died homeless on the streets. The project grew from an interaction that LaMarche had with a young woman with an intellectual disability who told her, “I just want to crochet all day,” LaMarche said.
The Charles Bruce Foundation receives blankets from this young woman each year, and it is taking the project to Denver in 2026.
People interested in assisting young artists, promoting literacy, or publishing a book can do that by donating, by contacting the foundation about receiving books for a class or group, or by sending a book proposal.
The Charles Bruce Foundation brightens the area by making it more financially feasible for artists to ply their craft.
“I’m a musician, and my wife is a writer,” Chad Bruce said. “To be able to help young people to further their interests and careers in those areas and do that to a successful degree, that really makes me proud.”
For more information on the Charles Bruce Foundation, visit www.charlesbrucefoundation.com.
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