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Firetruck Artist Donates Special Piece to Hampden Firehouse

BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- There's a new addition at the Hampden firehouse and it's unveiling was so important to Engine 21's history it brought firefighters from across the City to Roland Avenue to show their appreciation.

A dozen or more firefighters gathered around an easel Tuesday at Engine 21, eager to see one particular painting.

"I'm very happy to know this painting will hang in the firehouse which holds a very special place in my heart," said Lisa Penn, a firetruck artist.

That's because Lisa's dad was a pump operator at the station for 29 years until his sudden death. He was young. He had just fought a fire and everyone remembers.

[Reporter: When you come here do you think of your dad?]

"Always. Every time I drive past this firehouse I think of him. And so it means a lot that it will be here," Penn said.

Lisa's firetruck series is getting a lot of attention, even sales.

Lisa, who graduated from MICA, makes her living with her art, but donated the piece with love.

Lisa is now becoming one of the few artists being trained in the tradition of screen painting. 10 percent of all her sales go to the Firefighters Widow and Orphaned Children Fund.

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