More than twenty years ago, artist Christopher Veit left the tidy suburban townof Media, Pennsylvania where he grew up to pursue a life in the arts. Beginning with a four-year stint in art school in Baltimore, this pursuit has been propellinghim forward ever since, with little time spent looking back.

Now at age 40, Chris is back home on familiar, if uncertain, turf, and ready to give Philadelphia a show it won’t soon forget. He is calling upon his friends, a cadre of famous and nearly-so contemporary artists and musicians, to contribute works for an art exhibition and auction he’s calling HeartWorks.

The list of artists includes such notables as Jack Pierson, Ryan McGinley, Andrea Zittel and more than forty others. All are donating their works on Chris Veit’s behalf, as a benefit for Mazzoni Center.

So just who is this fellow, and what is it about him that could inspire such generosity? Chris Veit himself is only just now beginning to understand the answers to these questions.

Despite what he calls a “fairly typical” suburban upbringing in Delaware County, he says he always felt somehow “different” from the friends and family who surrounded him. More of a loner, Chris was drawn to art and nature.

“If I’d grown up differently, in a tribe, or something like that, I probably would have been a shaman, or something,” he laughs.

In high school he followed an arts curriculum, and upon graduation, enrolled at the Maryland Institute College of Art. It was here that Chris began to make his own way in the art world, and he calls this time period “the best experience of my life.” But it was still just the first steps in a long, sometimes arduous, journey.

Chris immersed himself in the intertwining worlds of art, music and fashion. He had his first show right out of art school, in 1990, and soon thereafter he moved to San Francisco, where he worked as a mural installer. From this point on, his life took on a decidedly nomadic, even rootless, style. He zig-zaged from urban art hotspots like San Francisco, New York, and London, to the California desert, taking on subsistence-type jobs as needed while pursuing his artistic passions.

One must be prepared to sacrifice a lot for one’s art, and while Chris is not a rich man, he nonetheless maintains that he’s led an enriching life, particularly when it comes to the friendships he has made within the art world.

“I’ve developed a hugely supportive network of friends who are very, very important to me,” he says.

He discovered just how supportive recently, when he asked for their help in trying to raise funds for Mazzoni Center, a health care facility which he credits with saving his life.

Several years ago, while living in the California high desert area, an enclave of contemporary artists about 125 miles east of Los Angeles, Chris tested positive for HIV. The medical facilities there were unequipped to treat his illness, so Chris had to commute 7 hours roundtrip to a clinic for medical care. Cash-poor and uninsured, his options were limited. Meanwhile, his health was deteriorating quickly. With his situation becoming desperate, he decided to come home to Philadelphia, and his family.

In October 2006, Chris found Mazzoni Center, an LGBT health center specializing in HIV treatment and care. “Instantly,” he says, “I thought ‘this was the place!” – it just felt like home.”

Just as important, Mazzoni Center treats patients regardless of their ability to pay. With no money, and no insurance, Mazzoni Center seemed like a godsend to Chris.

“Chris was a very sick young man when he arrived on our doorstep,” says Mazzoni’s medical director Dr. Rob Winn. After months of neglecting his condition, followed by what Chris calls the “torturous” drive cross-country, his body was badly depleted. Dr. Winn says his recovery is nothing short of remarkable. “In less than a year, his health has made 180 degree turnaround. We’re thrilled with the progress he’s made.”

So is Chris. “I feel the best I’ve felt in years,’ he says. “I feel really grateful, and lucky.”

So much so, that he wanted to try and repay this debt of gratitude. He says his friend and mentor Jack Pierson has often preached to him that “you only get back what you put out in life.” That really resonated with Chris, and so he decided to give back to the place and the people who helped him to get well.

While he can’t write a blank check himself, he did manage to come up with a way that others could write checks – lots of them. He decided to put on an art exhibit and auction, with all the works donated by his artist friends, that collectors and Mazzoni supporters alike could bid on to purchase. All of the proceeds will go to the center.

Chris says the outpouring of support from his friends has really opened his eyes, and made him realize just how important those relationships are. “You go through life, and sometimes, you know, you wonder – ‘Do I matter?’ “
he says. From the overwhelming response he’s gotten, he’s discovered the answer is a resounding ‘YES!”

He says the whole experience has been very validating, both as a recognition of his talents as an artist himself, as well as from a more personal perspective. “It’s nice to know that you really matter, that you’re important part of other’s lives,” he says.

He also says having this show, here, in this city, is his way of finally embracing who he is, and where he comes from. His journey has finally brought him back home.

“I’ve traveled all around the world to these other places, making art,” says Chris, “and I always bring with me parts of myself, and where I came from – but whenever I come back here [to Philadelphia], my identity is so wrapped up in it, I begin to doubt myself, and wonder, “who am I?”

But Chris says he’s come to realize that every project has “a certain place, a point in time” – and he says he strongly believes that the time and the place for HeartWorks is here – and now!

“I’m ready for it,” he says.

For more information contact the Mazzoni Center

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