In March of this year, company Skonto Būve decided to lend its support to the renovation of the most outstanding monument of baroque and rococo art in Latvia, by providing financial investment for the renovation works of the Large Gallery wall-painting. The palace is one of the most outstanding monuments of baroque and rococo art in Latvia. In the Latvian history of art, the Large Gallery painted using the tempera technique is an unusual occurrence – it is the only sample of such monumental Italian baroque art in Latvia. It is planned that the renovation works may continue till spring of next year, when the works will be fully completed.

During the second construction period of the palace (1763-1767), the Large Gallery was formed from five small rooms into a 30 m long dining hall; it joins the White Hall and the Golden Hall. The Gallery is one of two rooms in the palace, where the walls are painted using the tempera technique on a lime plastering foundation. The wall-painting was discovered quite unexpectedly. During the renovation works, by removing the layers of paint on the Western wall, under three layers of repaint the renovators discovered the original painting from the 18^th century, the authors of which were Italian artists of that time – Francesco Martini and Carlo Zucchi.

For the third year already, gallery “Daugava” and patron Guntis Rāvis supports the new artists of Latvia, granting them the scholarship named after the remarkable painter Boriss Bērziņš. This year, the recipients of the scholarship are the students of the Art Academy, who stood out by good works at the spring display of drawings –1^st year student Jolanta Basova, 2^nd year student Zane Lemeša and 5^th year student Sanda Skujiņa.

Jolanta Basova, the 1^st year student of the Art Academy of Latvia: “I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that I was chosen as one of the recipients of Boriss Bērziņš Scholarship. As before studying in the Art Academy I had not studied at any art schools and had only been working without assistance, this special evaluation provided huge satisfaction for me. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to gallery “Daugava” and patron Guntis Rāvis for this opportunity – I consider this a great motivation for the students of Art Academy.”

Students are granted scholarships for one year – till the spring display of drawings of the next year. The goal of the scholarship is to support the new artists and to promote their professional growth.

Guntis Rāvis, entrepreneur: “I am truly glad that there are such talented and promising new artists in Latvia. The Boriss Bērziņš Scholarship was created to support the very best students of the Art Academy and to give them inspiration for new works. In my opinion, the recipients this year have shown really good performance and I hope that they will also relate their professional activities to art further in life.”

Thanks to support from Guntis Rāvis and Transport Systems, the Ballet troupe of the Latvian National Opera will be able to fulfil plans that otherwise would have been impossible.

For the 2010 season, the Ballet troupe of the Latvian National Opera has prepared several impressive new productions – Sleeping Beauty and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The troupe will also be able to visit Estonia, Italy, Greece, and Moscow to participate in the prestigious Golden Mask ballet festival with Der Sandmann.

The timing of support is optimal, because this is a very important moment for us – we must not lose the high artistic level that has been achieved, the ballet troupe must create new productions, develop and continue their path to international success.

Selga Laizāne, Managing Director of the Latvian National Opera

Guntis Rāvis has been attending art exhibitions for 15 years already. It all started with the purchase of some paintings and now has grown into a close cooperation.

For example, preparations for a large exhibition in the Ludwig Museum of Budapest are currently under way. He has also arranged premises for exhibitions in Geneva and Vienna stressing that he wants the artists to have practical gains from his support. To support new artists, Guntis purchases their paintings. And not only from young ones, but also the likes of Imants Vecozols, Džemma Skulme and others.

Skonto Būve also supports the publishing of art books because it is impossible to publish them without financial support. For example, currently a 400-page album is in preparation and will be published to honour the 88^thbirthday of Biruta Baumane.

Another remarkable fact is a grant for three students of the Academy of Arts provided by Guntis Rāvis.

Anda Treija, Gallery Daugava