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Bozeman teen painter exceeds auction goal to support mental health

Auction raises $1,600 for mental health support
Posted at 7:24 PM, Apr 11, 2020
and last updated 2020-04-13 16:15:59-04

A 15-year-old Bozeman girl exceeded a goal she had set to help others with her artistic talents.

Averi Iris’s story is one that MTN News first reported on last week.

Her goal: auction off one of her paintings to help support mental health.

Saturday was closing night and she not only met her goal, she exceeded it.

Averi Iris, or Averi Smith if not going by her artist name, made the painting, called “True Colors,” in memory of her cousin and honoring her cousin’s family after he passed away unexpectedly last month.

She’s been painting since she was 10 years old.

With this particular painting, Averi was auctioning it off online after working on it while she followed the rules of the stay-at-home directive.

She was aiming for about $1,125 but since her story made its way across the community, she’s officially raised $1,600.

That’s about 142 percent of what she originally had hoped for.

Averi says every cent will be going to either the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI) or split with the highest bidder’s choice of mental health organization.