When I was at the Queen West Art Crawl last year, I was approached by Peter French to participate in the Design Hope Auction.
Design Hope Toronto is a volunteer initiative that raises funds and awareness for local organizations dedicated to helping the homeless. The goal was to donate a work of art that addressed or encompassed the theme of shelter. These works were auctioned off to raise money. The abstract painting that I donated was called “Canadian Maples ll”. Maybe not an obvious link to the theme of shelter but I feel strongly that all Canadians deserve a warm roof over their heads. The red of the maples is representative of Canada in all its opportunity and compassion.
What an amazing evening! I was asked to speak about my inspiration and decision to contribute, drummers from the PARC community performed – they were amazing – and then the auction started. It was crazy – fast, dynamic and fun. My work sold for $700 so I was pleased with that. It was also great to meet the couple who purchased mine…and outbid me for a cool sculpture of steel and stone by Frances Muscat. I did not come home empty-handed – purchased a mixed media work by
Michael Brown for my husband’s office. Participants were very generous in opening their wallets for a worthy cause - raising $10,000! I was proud to be a part of this event and hope to participate next year.
