Are you looking for a way to brighten up your walls, support local arts and save lives at the same time? Art for Impact, a creative fundraising auction, allows participants to do just that, a Daily Double of philanthropy that supports new and established Ottawa artists while at the same time helping to get a new hospital built here.
The auction was the idea of Altis Recruitment co-founder and CEO, Kathryn Tremblay, a longtime champion of Ottawa-area artists who saw the initiative as a way to give back to groups that she has leaned on in the past while honouring the memory of her husband, Toni Guimaraes, who died in September 2016, almost two-and-a-half years after being diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer.
“Toni relied on the hospital a tremendous amount,” says Tremblay. “He was only 49 when he was diagnosed, and we felt very privileged to have such a great team there. And we also felt that wouldn’t it be great to have a fresh new hospital? There is something exciting about this opportunity we all have to live in Ottawa and get this new one off the ground.
“You look at the Civic Hospital,” she adds. “It’s almost 100 years old and, in light of COVID, in light of the aging population and that cancer touches so many people, what better time to get a new hospital? This is about looking ahead.”
Through Altis’s charitable arm, The Tremblay Guimaraes Family Foundation, and in consultation with three local galleries — Studio Sixty Six, Wall Space and Galerie St. Laurent + Hill — Tremblay purchased works by 21 Ottawa-area artists. Each artist was paid in full, with the galleries each discounting a portion of their commission.
At 8 a.m. on May 24, a weeklong online auction will commence, with all of the proceeds going to The Ottawa Hospital. The minimum bid will be 75 per cent of each piece’s market value.
“I love art,” says Tremblay. “It’s joyful, and I feel it really changes your space. And on top of that you have this great new hospital being built, and I thought that instead of just giving money, it would be wonderful to elevate these artists and get their names out there, and the person donating can actually have this amazing piece of art that speaks to them while also being part of the hospital elevating things. And on my end, it gives me a chance to honour Toni.”
Among the 21 artists are Sarah Hatton, Dan Sharp, Claudia Gutierrez, Guillermo Trejo, Michael Harrington, Natalie Bruvels, Norman Takeuchi, Florence Yee, Christine Fitzgerald and Michael Schreier. Bidding opens at anywhere from $340 to $3,715, depending on the piece.
Studio Sixty Six owner Carrie Colton, who curated the auction, says that Ottawa’s arts community and its hospital are similarly near and dear to her, and her desire to help with the initiative goes deeper than simply representing artists. The Ottawa Hospital, she explains, has been her son’s — and thus her — second home for nearly two decades. “He’s in and out of the hospital a lot, and it’s been a key part of my life, and I know it is for a lot of people in Ottawa.
“It’s a very important part of our community, in anyone’s community, and I know how badly this building is needed. So doing this really was a no-brainer.”
The auction, Colton adds, embraces diversity of both the artists’ cultures and their media.
“There’s sculpture, there’s photography, there’s print-making, there’s painting. We really tried to put together a diverse selection of work.”
Artist Natalie Bruvels’ 48×60” Morning Has Broken painting, which incorporates imagery made by her son during the pandemic, is among the pieces in the auction.
“Celebrating the local arts community and honouring Kathryn’s husband, while looking to the future of the health of everybody in Ottawa is a really nice synthesis of initiatives,” she says.
“Everybody wins,” adds Tremblay. “The buyer wins, the artist wins, the curator wins, the hospital wins. I hope we see more fundraising initiatives like this.”
Visit https://ohfoundation.ca/get-involved/art-for-impact/ for more information.
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Blue Water Health in Sarnia is showing off a new piece of artwork from a local Indigenous artist.
As part of the hospital’s commitment to Truth and Reconciliation, it unveiled a commissioned piece of artwork by John Williams.
It can be seen on the first floor atrium.
The project was made possible by a $10,000 Government of Canada, Canadian Heritage Funding grant, through the government’s 2023 commemorating the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation program.
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