LAA tradition back this weekend

BY ELYSE AMEND

elyse.amend@transcontinental.ca

An annual tradition will return to Baie d’Urfé’s Fritz Farm this weekend with the Lakeshore Artists Association (LAA)’s spring exhibition and sale. Over 150 works of art produced by local artists will be on display, and part of the sales will go towards NOVA West Island.

Throughout its 50-year history, the LAA has used its exhibits to support local organizations like the West Island Association for the Intellectually Handicapped (WIAIH) and NOVA West Island, and plans to keep the tradition alive for many years to come.

“I thin that NOVA is one organization that’s very close to (the artists). We all come into contact with someone who needs them, and we know they’re under-funded,” said Bev Wight, an LAA artist and publicity coordinator. “That’s why we stay with them.”

As a charitable, non-for-profit healthcare organization, NOVA West Island relies on community help to keeps its many programs and services running. The staff and volunteers at the West Island branch provide everything from home palliative care and specialized cancer care to home support and the Carousel Centre for children coping with difficulties such as divorce or the loss of a loved one.

“We do not get any provincial or federal government funding, so we do rely on donations. We need that to continue offering the services we do,” said Jane Lumsden, NOVA West Island’s executive director, adding the team also runs the thrift store and the book store in Ste. Anne de Bellevue, the furniture store in Beaconsfield’s Beaurepaire Village, and the Boutique d’Occasion in Kirkland to help support itself. “The money the community raises through things like the art show goes towards funding the programs and services we have. We couldn’t possibly do this without the support of the community,” Lumsden continued.

Along with the paintings for sale – which will constantly be replaced by new work so there will never be a hole on the wall – there will also be a raffle with two LAA paintings as prizes. Nicole Grisé and Gordon Pym have both donated paintings for the draw.

“It’s always a very nice thing to do. In a sense, people vie for the opportunity to do it,” said Pym, a Beaconsfield resident and LAA member for the past five years. Pym’s donated painting, an oil on wood paneling, was inspired by the grasslands in central British Columbia.

“I like to do things that are a bit more atmospheric,” he said.

“It was a great pleasure to donate the painting,” said Dollard des Ormeaux resident Grisé, who has been an LAA member for about 20 years and has participated in numerous fundraisers. Her painting is a still life of a table by a window. “If it can help, I’m very happy to do it.”

The LAA spring exhibition and sale will take place at Fritz Farm, 20477 Lakeshore Road in Baie d’Urfé, this Saturday and Sunday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.