Tucson couple runs gallery filled with gratitude, purpose

Gratitude. It’s the quality of being thankful and the readiness to show appreciation — and to return kindness.

It’s a quality that makes itself known at different times in our lives and sometimes it’s so powerful that the words “thank you” or “grateful” just aren’t enough.

Amanda Greenwaldt and Paul Lambert can relate.

Each had been homeless.

The couple met at a church in Tempe in 2011, both wanting to improve their lives. It wasn’t until two years later, they became a couple — both motivated to live their dreams of working with kids and sharing art with the world.

“I always knew she was in there someplace,” said Sandy Yule, Greenwaldt’s grandmother. “She was a phenomenal kid. There was nothing she couldn’t do. Then she somehow got in a bad spot in her life, but she came out of it and is going leaps and bounds.”

Lambert, an artist himself, already had a line of T-shirts and drawings he had done and was selling from a kiosk at Tucson Mall. They decided to open a gallery, not just to show Lambert’s work, but to show the work of both established and emerging artists.

While building the gallery, Lambert went to school full time at the University of Arizona to finish his bachelor’s degree in art history. All while limping on a blown out knee.

“I would watch him limp to class,” Greenwaldt said. “I told him to wait till he got his new knee, but he worried if he quit, he wouldn’t go back.”

So, he persevered and graduated with honors. He eventually had knee-replacement surgery.

Greenwaldt and Lambert opened Phelony Art Gallery in October 2014 in Tucson Mall.

It has given Greenwaldt the opportunity to work with kids from Upward Bound — a program of Pima Community College that offers low income and at-risk students academic and college prep assistance — by hiring them for internships. Lambert is going to teach art classes.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

The couple’s gallery features local artists while also reaching into the community, “like my program, to give opportunities to others,” said Lynette Olsen, program manager of Upward Bound.

“They’re helping everyone. Amanda’s passion is to help the disadvantaged,” Olsen said. “That’s what Amanda and I have in common. We both have that passion for helping those people get a better life.”

The couple is starting a fundraiser for local charities that help people who have struggled with substance abuse, domestic violence or homelessness.

Four months ago, Lambert and Greenwaldt had a baby boy, who spends every day with his parents at the gallery. Completing their family, Greenwaldt’s older son — from a previous relationship — spends weekends with them.

“I used to walk around with no purpose,” Greenwaldt recalled. “Now being here, I’ll never forget what it was like to walk for hours and have nowhere to go. Now I get to share art with the world and work with Pima College and at risk kids … Walking purposeless gave me purpose.”

It’s not just the realization and fruition of their dreams they are grateful for, but the little things.

“I’m grateful to have a house … for my bed and pillows,” Greenwaldt said. “I’m grateful for a healthy baby. I’m grateful for the chaos in my life because it’s different than it used to be.”

“I don’t even know if the word (thankful) is enough,” Lambert said. “It’s so much more than that.”

But, actions might be.

When Greenwaldt first went to that church, she met Sylvia Grab, who helped her learn a better way of living.

“She gave me a new shot at life by showing me a new way to live,” Greenwaldt said.

“Now I found out she needs a kidney, so I put my name on the list to give her a kidney. She’s a powerhouse and helped countless women. If we (Lambert and Greenwaldt) hadn’t worked together to build this gallery and God hadn’t put Sylvia in my life, I would still be on the street.”