An event being held in September at the Mary Winspear Centre will give the opportunity for patrons to give back to the centre while enjoying world-class art.
The Winspear Art Show, Sale and Dinner will take place on Saturday, Sept. 13 and will feature a dinner by Island Culinary’s Red Seal Chef Graham Little and live musical entertainment from local young performers.
The art, which was donated to the Centre by over 30 artists, will be auctioned off in a silent auction and proceeds will go to support the Centre’s capital improvement plan.
“What a lot of people don’t realize is that unlike most community centres that are funded almost entirely by some level of government, the Winspear Centre only receives 27.5 per cent of our funding from the local municipalities,” explained the Centre’s Executive Director, Bradley Edgett.
“The rest of our operating budget comes from shows, room rentals and long term clients of ours like Peninsula Yoga. So the show, auction and dinner next week are a way for us to fundraise for the Centre while still giving something back to our patrons.”
Edgett added that the art that will be on silent auction during the evening was donated by popular artists like Craig Benson, Roy Henry Vickers, Bill Boyd, Cliff Bowes and Kevin Cranmer.
“It should be a wonderful evening,” said Edgett.
Tickets for the event are $76 and funds raised from the ticket sales and the art auction will go directly into the capital improvement plan.
The Winspear Centre was opened in 2001, and as it is approaching its 14th year in use, Edgett said the Centre is looking to amass funds to keep the facility in good shape.
“It’s one of those things, people might not feel like the building is old yet, but there are always things that need to be done to maintain a facility like this,” he said, noting that the Centre had a capital improvement study done last year which indicated what improvements were needed in what time frame.
“In the next 15 years as the facility moves into latter part of its life span we’re going to have to look at putting about $2.5 million into the facility to keep it up,” he said.
Things like a new roof and a new HVAC system for the building are more immediate needs for the facility, which will be replaced in the handful of years thanks to fundraising initiatives like the art show.
An added bonus for attendees of the event will be entered into a draw to win a piece from Edgett’s personal collection “Cedar Child” by Kevin Cranmer.
For tickets call 250-656-0275.