TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — After losing her father to cancer last year, Ria Patino is turning grief into generosity. The owner of This n’ That Creative Studio is renaming her paint splatter room in honor of her dad, Rick Perez, and hosting a color run to raise money for summer camp scholarships.
On March 5, 2024, Perez went to the hospital after work, unaware he was about to receive devastating news.
“That week he was diagnosed with pancreatic and liver cancer. It was stage four. Nobody expected it, and it happened so fast,” Patino said.
Just 20 days later, Perez was gone. A longtime Tucson contractor, Perez painted several landmarks in town, including the fighter hangars at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Park Place Mall, and Banner Health.
“I was driving around and realizing how many buildings my dad actually touched. I was just flooded with memories of him,” Patino said.
To honor his legacy, she is renaming the splatter room in her studio “Rick’s Be Bad Paint Lab.”
“He used to always say ‘forget about it’ in a funny Italian accent. That’s what I want this room to be, a place where people can come in and just forget about it,” she said.
Patino is also hosting a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math) color run this Saturday at noon. Proceeds will fund scholarships for the studio’s summer camps for kids in the community.
“I want people to take away that we can come together as a community, to honor our loved ones and not wait until they’re gone,” she said.
The color run is open to the public, with paint stations for those who prefer not to run.
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