Artists frequently get approached to donate their work to charity silent auctions, which means instead of getting money for your valuable inventory, you get a tax receipt. These do not pay bills and I’m sure most artists have plenty to write off as it is.

The Vancouver Timeraiser has a different approach to working both with charities and with artists. Instead of asking the artists to give their work away for free they purchase the work (up to $800!) and use it as a draw to earn volunteer hours for non-profits. They also do a terrific job of promoting the work of the artists right along with the Timeraiser event itself.

I had a really great experience with Timeraiser. They were organized and kept me informed every step of the way – when they needed my work, when the cheque would be available, inclusion in the day of the event, etc. My favorite bit was receiving and signing the contract because it was done online with a digital signature, and I received a copy immediately. It was also written in “human” rather than lawyer speak.

It was fun attending the Timeraiser event and watching as the bidding on my piece made its way to the maximum bid. Almost all of the artwork went really fast. I’m not sure who ended up winning mine but I hope the person loves it as much as I do. The work (pictured above) was the very first altered book I created. I felt a little sad seeing it go.

More than four hundred people attended the Vancouver Timeraiser, and an amazing 6,830 volunteer hours were raised. It makes me feel good that my work contributed to the success of the evening, and I would definitely take part again next year.

Earlier this week Boris and I were lucky enough to see Arcade Fire play at the Pacific Coliseum, which is on the grounds of the PNE. We sat in a private box with a great view of the concert, and also enjoyed catered food. It was the closing party for the Container Art show, and all of the artists with their favorite +1 were in attendance. It was an awesome way to conclude the whole experience.

Container Art was a paid gig which included a generous artist fee, a materials fee, an exhibitors ID for unlimited access to the PNE grounds, and four free passes to share with others. There was also a HUGE amount of exposure because the PNE draws a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people. They then project all their content on, let me tell you, more than one rental led screen! The Arcade Fire concert was just icing on the cake.

Is this a typical experience for emerging artists? Not at all. But it demonstrates the potential for businesses to work with artists, promote their work, and compensate them appropriately for it. It’s the kind of situation I would like to see more of because our government certainly isn’t supporting the arts, so why not big and small business?

I am very grateful to Peter Male and Caryn Garder at the PNE, as well as Valerie Artzen, for the opportunity to be a part of Container Art.