"This is my life, this is my mission," said Allen, who runs Fresh Artists out of five of the seven rooms of her home. She takes no salary. "I really believe I'm called to do this, and this is the most fun I've had in my life."
Allen, the only winner from the area, will be honored Friday and Saturday nights at receptions at the Franklin Institute and the National Constitution Center.
The Purpose Prize - $100,000 to five winners, and $50,000 to five more - is funded by the Atlantic Philanthropies and the John Templeton Foundation. Now in its fifth year, the prize is awarded by Civic Ventures, a California nonprofit focusing on getting older Americans involved in solving social problems and finding meaning in "encore careers."
Civic Ventures is holding its annual three-day summit in Philadelphia, starting Friday. Prize winners are chosen from more than 1,000 nominations.
Allen moved to Philadelphia at age 23 to work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. After 12 years, she left to raise her two sons, who are both artists. About 10 years ago, she started volunteering in a charter school in Philadelphia where her son attended, and joined the board and became extremely active.
Paul Vallas, former Philadelphia schools CEO, asked her to fill the new and cavernous headquarters on Broad Street with student art. The project, which she worked on with her son Roger, took two years. They would get student art, take a digital photo, and enlarge it in dazzling fashion. They hung hundreds of pieces.
What Allen learned was that people loved the art and often wanted to buy it. She was adamant it wasn't for sale.
