Squamish’s artists recently raised more than $1,500 for grandmothers in Africa.
Last summer, local hairdresser Harry Bullen rounded up a group of Squamish’s creative minds to fundraise for women raising a generation of children orphaned by AIDS. The initiative was spearheaded by the Greater Van Gogos — a campaign backing the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
Squamish artists put their creativity to work on 21 chairs. Overall, more than 120 chairs were up for grabs, all completed by people from the North Shore and Sea to Sky Corridor.
The multitude of mediums and variety of designs were amazing, said Bullen, who himself created a chair on the theme of the Queen of Hearts.
Squamish artist Linda Bachman transformed an old wooden school desk into the Stawamus Chief with two hikers peering over the edge. Painter Toby Jaxon took her inspiration from Dutch post-impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh and adorned her chair with The Starry Night.
“The auction for the chairs was a complete success,” Bullen wrote in an email to the Squamish Chief.
Bidding on the chairs took place last month at the West Vancouver Recreation Centre. The fundraiser netted $10,000. All the chairs sold for at least $50, Bullen noted. One Squamish artist raised $550 on one chair.
“The most expensive one at the auction went for $888,” he said.
The Greater Van Gogos — Gogos is a Zulu word for “grandmother” — have raised more than $1 million to help support grandmothers caring for children in 15 sub-Saharan African countries, stated the organization’s website.
Sixty-nine per cent of the people living globally with HIV reside in Africa, according to a May 2013 report from the United Nations AIDS (UNAIDS) organization. Despite recent positive trends, in 2011 there were 1.8 million new HIV infections across the continent and 1.2 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses.
