Perhaps the first word that comes to mind when you think of fiddler Natalie MacMaster isn’t “painter.” Ditto actor Brent Butt of “Corner Gas” fame, and legendary Rush guitarist Alex Lifeson.
And, although I think we could all agree that these folks are talented artists in their own right, I’m guessing that, like me, you’ve never thought of them as artists in the sense of painters, with brushes. On canvas.
But the Kidney Foundation of Canada has seen their full artistic potential, and it’s currently gearing up for a clever fundraiser called “Brush of Hope.” The foundation invites celebrities – mostly Canadian – to create a work of art on canvas, which will be auctioned off on eBay to raise money for kidney research in Canada.
It’s the brainchild of Tim Fox, who is the Executive Director of the New Brunswick/PEI branch of the Kidney Foundation. He brought the idea with him when he moved to Atlantic Canada from the Ontario branch of the Foundation, and he’s been spreading the word via a Facebook group called “A Brush of Hope - Celebrity Paintings for Kidney Research.”
“Last year was the first year that we did in the Maritimes, and it was very popular here,” Fox told me. “So many of the local musicians really picked up on it, there was a lot of “Atlantic Canada” flavour to it. I was thrilled, because I was literally getting people Facebook-ing me saying, ‘Can I paint too?’ It was wonderful.”
Last year the project raised $13,000. This year, Fox hopes to raise at least $15,000, which shouldn’t be too difficult, given the list of celebrities he’s already got on board. The Facebook site already features paintings done by a whole host of familiar personalities, including musicians Jill Barber, Christina Martin, and Natalie MacMaster. There are also works by Canadian and American football players such as Glenn January (of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers), and “NFL Football great” Steve Christie. The site even boasts a limited edition print by Leonard Cohen.
Promised, but not yet posted, are works by Cathy Jones, Shaun Majumder, Brent Butt, Ron James, Tie Domi, and a long list of athletes, musicians, actors and comedians, including the aforementioned Alex Lifeson.
“Alex is definitely a highlight for us,” says Fox. “We asked him if he would paint for us, and I think, to be honest, he was very pleasantly surprised with how well his first painting sold. It sold for $3000, and that really got him excited, so he painted the next year and it sold for $5700. He has been with us every step of the way.”
That’s a nice chunk of change, but I’m betting that you and I will be able to get a lovely little work of art with a bit of celebrity cachet for a whole lot less than that.
Either way, the money goes toward a good cause. “Organ donation awareness and transplantation is a big part of the mission of the kidney foundation,” says Fox. “At any given time, about four thousand Canadians are waiting for a transplant, and just under three thousand of those are waiting for a kidney.”
If you think you might like to do some good and be the proud owner of an Alfie Zappacosta original, check out the Facebook site. More paintings will be posted between now and October, and the auction will run on eBay from October 21 to 31. Each painting will start at $49 USD and will, of course, be sold to the highest bidder. And hands off my Jill Barber.
Showing posts with label arts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label arts. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
A Case of Convention Centre Ennui
Like a lot of people, I suppose, I have a case of convention centre exhaustion. Perhaps by the time you read this, we’ll know whether the province plans to support the controversial downtown development or not. But I’d still like to make one point.
It’s not about potential tax revenues, or large-scale economic impact, or view planes, or even whether potential conventioneers “need” a new venue with bigger rooms or higher ceilings or whatever.
I just want to take issue with one element of the pro-downtown-convention-centre argument: the suggestion that a convention centre would somehow “revitalize” downtown Halifax, in the cultural sense.
Here’s just one example of that argument. In a recent letter to Halifax Magazine, Nova Scotia Business Inc. CEO, Stephen Lund, extolled what he saw as the benefits of the potential office space attached to the project.
“We’d like to see this tower filled with young finance and accounting grads,” he wrote. “Imagine, for a moment, 2,000 to 2,500 more young people working in downtown Halifax, making wages two to three times the average in our province. ...Think of the money they will spend on new cars, houses and restaurants.”
Oh, I’m imagining it. I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings or anything, but a downtown crawling with thousands of young accountants is simply not my idea of a cultural hotbed.
Young financiers aside, this convention centre, if it comes to pass, won’t do anything directly to make downtown Halifax more interesting, more vibrant, or more attractive for Haligonians. Sure, there will be more tourists and office workers around with cash to spend, but downtown has to be about more than bars, offices, hotels and kitschy chain restaurants.
We really need to see more effort put into nurturing the kind of mixed-use applications that might make Haligonians actually want to live and play downtown. Why are there so few families living in the downtown core? Could it be because there’s a lack of affordable housing, few local markets, and very little green space?
We need more support for local businesses that will make our city’s streets more interesting for the citizens of Halifax, not for tourists and visitors. I want my downtown to be full of independently-owned shops selling interesting and original things you can’t buy in tourist outlets or big-box business parks.
I want niche restaurants, a place to get a good burrito, a greasy shawarma or a tasty roti, and spaces where I can sit and people-watch while I enjoy it. I want outdoor performance spaces, buskers, public art and engaging, street-scale, people-friendly architecture.
The fact that so much of the talk about the proposed convention centre is about the potential impact on the economy – and not the culture – of Halifax is disheartening.
If I could spend a Saturday walking around and enjoying my own city, I’d be thrilled. If we opt to leave the downtown in the hands of the accountants and the conventioneers, I suspect we really will get what we pay for.
It’s not about potential tax revenues, or large-scale economic impact, or view planes, or even whether potential conventioneers “need” a new venue with bigger rooms or higher ceilings or whatever.
I just want to take issue with one element of the pro-downtown-convention-centre argument: the suggestion that a convention centre would somehow “revitalize” downtown Halifax, in the cultural sense.
Here’s just one example of that argument. In a recent letter to Halifax Magazine, Nova Scotia Business Inc. CEO, Stephen Lund, extolled what he saw as the benefits of the potential office space attached to the project.
“We’d like to see this tower filled with young finance and accounting grads,” he wrote. “Imagine, for a moment, 2,000 to 2,500 more young people working in downtown Halifax, making wages two to three times the average in our province. ...Think of the money they will spend on new cars, houses and restaurants.”
Oh, I’m imagining it. I don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings or anything, but a downtown crawling with thousands of young accountants is simply not my idea of a cultural hotbed.
Young financiers aside, this convention centre, if it comes to pass, won’t do anything directly to make downtown Halifax more interesting, more vibrant, or more attractive for Haligonians. Sure, there will be more tourists and office workers around with cash to spend, but downtown has to be about more than bars, offices, hotels and kitschy chain restaurants.
We really need to see more effort put into nurturing the kind of mixed-use applications that might make Haligonians actually want to live and play downtown. Why are there so few families living in the downtown core? Could it be because there’s a lack of affordable housing, few local markets, and very little green space?
We need more support for local businesses that will make our city’s streets more interesting for the citizens of Halifax, not for tourists and visitors. I want my downtown to be full of independently-owned shops selling interesting and original things you can’t buy in tourist outlets or big-box business parks.
I want niche restaurants, a place to get a good burrito, a greasy shawarma or a tasty roti, and spaces where I can sit and people-watch while I enjoy it. I want outdoor performance spaces, buskers, public art and engaging, street-scale, people-friendly architecture.
The fact that so much of the talk about the proposed convention centre is about the potential impact on the economy – and not the culture – of Halifax is disheartening.
If I could spend a Saturday walking around and enjoying my own city, I’d be thrilled. If we opt to leave the downtown in the hands of the accountants and the conventioneers, I suspect we really will get what we pay for.
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