An artist who grew up here, has shown his paintings at du Louvre, as well as in Cannes, Rio de Janario, Florence, New York City, and Monaco is now back in Langley and adding his talents to the new West Fine Art Show happening this week in aid of homeless youth.
Brian Croft, organizer of a trilogy of West Fine Art Shows, was proud to share the news that Alberta’s Jim Pescott has been added as an unexpected but welcome 23rd artist in the show’s line up this weekend.
“He’s setting up right now in BMO Centre in Calgary for a show…” Croft told the Langley Advance.
“But he is pretty pumped that he is coming home to show his work, and so am I,” Croft added just ahead of this weekend’s art show, happening Friday through Sunday, March 9 to 11, at Yorkson Creek Middle School.
While the West Fine Art Show has been around for many years – initially started by Langley artist Murray Phillips – Croft took over the reigns last year and is pleased to announce a third annual show and sale has been added to the roster.
In the beginning
In the early days, a lone annual art show was held at Senator Gerry St. Germain’s farm in South Surrey.
As the show grew and expanded, it broke into two events: one, that continues to benefit a cause close to Phillips’ heart – namely Langley Hospice Society – that continues to be hosted every fall.
This year, that fall show with hospice is set for Sept. 21 to 23 and is going to be staged at the Glass House Estate Winery in South Langley.
RELATED: Langley hospice benefits from artists’ talent at West Fine Art Show
In the meantime, four years ago, another West Fine Art Show in the spring was conceived and added to the Cloverdale Rodeo.
This year’s Cloverdale show and sale, which runs May 18 to 21, will feature 18 artists, and once again partial proceeds from the sale of all art will be shared the Cloverdale Rodeo Youth Initiative Foundation and the C.H.I.L.D. Foundation – for kids living with Crohn’s disease.
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Show just keeps growing
Now, there’s a third.
Last fall, Croft first divulged his plans to add a third annual art show to the repertoire, and he’s making that a reality this weekend – with some help from his new friends at the Langley School District Foundation.
“Up to now we have always done two annual shows; I felt we could do one more,” Croft said.
The artists, who will be in attendance at this weekend’s show – like the others in the trilogy – have all agreed to donate 20 per cent of sales of their pieces to the cause.
“At all our shows, a portion of all art sales are directed to the partnered charity, in this case the Langley School District Foundation,” he elaborated.
After considering a range of school foundation initiatives, the art show society asked that the funds raised from this upcoming show be directed “to helping with youth homelessness as we felt this was a pressing need within our community,” Croft said.
This new partnership has the foundation’s executive director Susan Cairns pretty excited.
This is the first time the foundation has partnered with the arts community, and Cairns is hopeful this can become an annual event.
The cause, she said, is significant. There are at least 170 students in the school district who are identified as homeless, and in working closely with Encompass and a few other community resources, Cairns said they’re hoping to guide several of the students through the new shelter and resource hub set to open on 203rd Street in the middle of this month.
Depending on how many pieces of art sell, Cairns has been told to expect that this inaugural show and sale could raise as much as $10,000. That could be a significant boost for the cause, she said.
The charity art show kicks off Friday, March 9 from 7 to 9 p.m., continues Saturday, March 10 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and wraps up Sunday, March 11 running from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission and parking are free.
The Yorkson Creek school is located at 20686 84th Ave.
• Stay tuned to the Langley Advance for coverage of the show
and a feature on one of the local participating artists