Artists Helping Artists hosts an open house

By Dan Hilborn
Published Apr. 15, 2006


New artwork created by the 42 members of the Artists Helping Artists collective in North Burnaby will be on sale during a special open house being held this Monday and Tuesday.

More than 250 separate pieces of art created by some of the most talented disabled artists in the Lower Mainland will be available, ranging in size from full wall-murals to small framed pictures, said Moe Francois, coordinator of the unique program.

"You'll find everything from European and Mediterranean wall- sized murals to Emily Carr-style abstracts for the office or home," she said.

Artists Helping Artists, located in the rear of the Heights Resource Centre, is open to anyone with a disability who wants to learn to create their own art.

Byron Crawford, a schizophrenic who creates abstract wall hangings on burlap dividers, is just one of the artists.

Lindy Leung, who has a severe form of cerebral palsey, paints waterfalls in acrylic using a twig from a tree instead of a brush.

Jose Suganob, a former lawyer who is recuperating from the effects of two aneurysms, is contributing Humanities, a triptych - a painting divided into three panels - that depicts a very realistic gorilla.

"When you look at it, it actually represents every country and every people in the world," Francois said. "The eyes are incredible. It actually reminds you how to treat people when you go out into the world."

While Francois is the lone staff person at AHA, she is assisted by volunteer Larry Myrick, a member of the Federation of Canadian Artists.

Many of the group's instructors are from the Burnaby Artists Guild, and the program also receives support from the City of Burnaby, in particular, the staff people in its arts and culture division such as director Denis Nokony, manager Ian Forsyth, curator Darren Martens and preparator Bob McIntyre.

The artists, many of whom are clients of the Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion, get together three times a week to create their work, and Francois refers to their programs as "very inclusive, fun and spiritual place to be."

The Artists Helping Artist open house and sale takes place from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Monday and Tuesday, April 10 and 11.

It's at the AHA workshop, Room B7, located through the red doors at the rear of 250 Willingdon Ave. (Beside the former Heights Performance Theatre.) For more information, call 604-291-2242.