‘The Art of Giving’: Corner Frame Shop/Leucadia Art Gallery supporting Lahaina fire victims

The Corner Frame Shop/Leucadia Art Gallery will host “The Art of Giving” on Saturday, Sept. 9, an art auction fundraiser with all proceeds going to the families and victims of the devastating wildfire in Lahaina, Maui.

The event, held from 5-8 p.m., will auction off pieces from local artists and will also include performances by hula dancers from Encinitas-based group Kehulili O Kailani, accompanied by the local band Lolo Paniolo.

As part of the fundraiser, the gallery is collecting gift cards, which will be distributed directly to residents of Lahaina later this month.

Gift cards are suggested from places such as Costco, Vons/Safeway, Target, Verizon, Walgreens, Amazon and Visa. In addition to the collection at the event, gift cards can be dropped off at the shop and gallery until Sept 16.

Owner Brenda Dizon has a special connection to Maui and the Lahaina community as it has become her second home since her daughter Alexis Dizon-Brunold moved there over 11 years ago. She visits her daughter, son-in-law and grandchild on the island three to five times a year and has come to know many of the people very well.

Alexis and her husband have a property management company and many of their employees lost everything in the fire and one unfortunately lost his life. Alexis shared a terrifying story about a neighbor’s mother and 88-year-old grandmother trying to evacuate out of Lahaina, not making any progress on the road for an hour and a half. They eventually abandoned their car and went into the water— a young Hawaiian man held up the grandmother in the ocean all night long so she would survive.

“They’re all traumatized,” Dizon said of many of Lahaina’s residents. As her daughter’s home in Kaanapali was one of the only ones with power due to its solar, the first few days they were feeding up to 40 people and letting them use their home to shower and rest. Like that young man in the ocean, neighbors did everything they could to help each other.

“Here in Encinitas we have such a great sense of community but then you go to Hawaii and they’re in another league,” Dizon said. “In the end, the heroes of that whole tragedy are really the native Hawaiians…they made things happen immediately, it’s been so impressive. I’m just trying to do my part to help.”

The Corner Frame Shop/Leucadia Art Gallery has been a community fixture for 45 years. Dizon, a longtime Cardiff resident, took over the shop and gallery in October 2019 after her husband Morgan Mallory passed away. Mallory was a longtime community leader, the founder of LeucadiArt Walk, Leucadia 101 Main Street Association and the Leucadia Farmers Market.

When he suddenly passed away, the community was adamant that Dizon keep the business going. She had her own career in real estate finance but stepped into the whole new world at the shop and gallery—the past few years doing a remodel, expanding the gallery, and relying on her valued and skilled staff. A month ago, Dizon finally left her real estate career to be full-time at Corner Frame.

“It’s really been a joy to put my own mark on the business,” said Dizon.

The shop/gallery is located at 1038 N. Coast Highway 101 on the corner of Diana Street.