Amid the BBQ’s, dogs on the beach, cold beers and fireworks listed on my Canada Day Calendar, I’m taking a couple of hours to hang some of the Canadian art I’ve purchased over the years.
In preparation, I came across a beloved miniature I remember purchasing on another Canada Day at a sidewalk sale on Toronto’s waterfront. That artist no longer sells on the sidewalk, her work now featured on the walls of some of our more prestigious galleries.
Now I’m certain that my twenty or thirty dollar purchase didn’t make a huge difference to that artist’s career. But it probably helped. Maybe it only bought a rare meal out on a summer night when she got her next inspiration. Maybe it bought the oils she used for one of the works that eventually made her famous.
The point is that when it comes to artists and money, every little bit helps. And this is a day when all of us could make a difference, no matter how small, for another Canadian artist.
It’s a busy day for most Canadians. We’re flocking to parks and campgrounds to enjoy the weather, taking in local fairs or just hanging someplace shady to have a drink.
In the process, we’ll run across street musicians, jugglers and buskers of all sorts, people starting out the same way an lot of the famous acts who’ll be filling our arenas and bandstands tonight started out.
Take a moment to stop and take in what they have to offer. Take another to find a ten or twenty in your wallet that’s just going to get blown on a couple of drinks later on and toss it in their guitar case, bucket or fish bowl.
Trust me, it’ll make a difference and mean a lot more than it ever will to Mr. Labatt or Mr. Seagram.
Make Canada Day memorable for one of the people helping to make yours better and brighter –- and someday you can tell people you were the one who got them wherever they got.
Happy Canada Day!
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