Art of the Games auction success

We painted our way through the Canada games so more kids can play

Two weeks, four live paintings, and $14,650. That’s the impressive outcome of CWB National Leasing’s Art of the Games initiative at the 2017 Canada Games.

The money was raised at the CWB National Leasing closing ceremonies reception, as the four live paintings created by artist Peter Farmer were auctioned off with proceeds going to KidSport Manitoba.  KidSport supports children who might not be able to participate in sport due to financial limitations.

“Really, the amount and support from the community just blows us away,” said Kim Browning, the Director of Marketing for Sport Manitoba. “Being up over $14,000, people obviously love Peter’s work and we just can’t thank the supporters enough. It’s going to make a huge difference for kids in sport this winter. Whether it’s hockey or ringette, we know they’re going to be playing something and we could not be happier.”

The winners of the auction are all from Winnipeg: Bradley and Rosamin Brown (the winners of two paintings), Dave Angus on behalf of Johnston Group, and Carla Morris who won the high-jump painting “For The Record,” which captures Quebecer Mikella Lefebre-Oatis taking the gold medal with a record-breaking leap.

“I think youth sport is incredibly important. The reason I bid on this particular piece is because it celebrates women in sport, which I’m very passionate about as an athlete myself.  It’s a wonderful cause, so I was happy to do it,” said Morris.

The artist who created the pieces said he was thrilled to be part of the initiative.

“It was amazing, there’s so much energy at the events. You almost just put your brush through that energy and it feels like that’s half of the painting done,” said Peter Farmer. “It has worked out really well, live painting at sporting events is a great fit.”

He added, “I think kids get so much out of sport, they get self-esteem and make friends for life.  It teaches them how to work together, which we need to do more of in life. This is a great event for CWB National Leasing to spearhead.”   

Of course, the Art of the Games initiative wasn’t CWB National Leasing’s only contribution to the Games. 11 CWB National Leasing employees put in 400 hours volunteering throughout the two weeks.  (They were part of the 6000 person volunteer team that helped make the Games a roaring success.)

Tom Pundyk, CWB National Leasing’s President and CEO, said he’s always proud of his employees but feels particularly gratified during this event.  

“Our whole company got really involved, we were the first company to get all of our volunteers in and gone,” said Pundyk. “Since then, there’s been so much buzz around the office. I went to several events every day over past two weeks and saw our employees there along with other volunteers, and it was just so great to see.

I’m always proud of my employees but super proud when they can put together something like this gala and auction, along with the volunteering.  It’s truly a pleasure for us to be involved in this Canadian event.”