“Surviving, Thriving & Growing”
Art Works Celebrates 20 years and Still Going Strong!
Exhibit Runs: May 29 – July 8, 2006 

I decided to title our 20th Anniversary show "Surviving, Thriving & Growing"; it represents the natural evolution of many things in life - of a business, of an artist's growth, of the cycle of life. 

After our 10th Anniversary, I thought business, life in general, would become easier and I could start to enjoy the fruits of my labours. But instead, we have been going through these various cycles of "surviving, thriving & growing" over and over again, and sometimes simultaneously. 

We can recall being hit by 9/11; the Iraqi war; SARS; skyrocketing business property taxes; you name it. But then there were the highlights: getting our first large contract with the Pacific Palisades Hotel for over ¼ of a million dollars, which was to be followed by numerous others. (My parents finally stopped asking me when I was going to get a real job!) Then just recently, one of our artists Debra Van Tuinen was commissioned for a large painting in the Hotel One, Taipei, Taiwan. One of my most humble moments was being recognized for something I just thought had to be done - receiving a "Friends for Life" award from the Art for Life. All very gratifying and heady stuff. 

Surviving, Thriving & Growing also signifies the progression of an artist's development, provided the artist's talents and tenacity can carry them through, despite all odds. (Remember the "When are you going to get a real job?) We are fortunate to have met up and worked with some brilliant artists, whose talents never cease to amaze me!

Surviving, Thriving & Growing also signifies the physical & mental struggle with people dealing with cancer. This past decade, I lost my mother to cancer. A number of you probably remember her when she catered our shows for the first couple of years. Shortly after that, we also lost a good neighbour & friend, Leo from El Patio next door. And recently, this past December, we lost Darcy, our Comptroller who thought she had won the battle with breast cancer, but succumbed when it reappeared & metastasized to her liver. They were all very remarkable people & they are missed deeply!

Therefore, in celebration of our 20th Anniversary, Art Works & its artists will be contributing a portion of all proceeds from the "Surviving, Thriving & Growing" show to benefit Cancer Research & Prevention. At our 10th Anniversary, we raised over $5,000. for Cancer Research. This year, with your help, we would like to at least double that figure. As an added incentive to purchase during the month of June - all clients that purchase a piece from the show will be entered to win a one week trip for 2 to Blue Bay Resort Cancun, including return airfare through Seattle, courtesy of Blue Bay Resorts.

We would like to thank the gracious assistance of our sponsors: CTV, Western Living, Provence Marinaside, Vincor International, Blue Bay Resorts, Vista Window Film, The Edge Café, Costco, Fotiou Moulding, Larson Juhl, Roma Moulding, Unik Mouldings, Deljou Art Group, and Chocoatl Chocolatiers.

Thank you all for your support over these past 20 years & we hope you will all join us as we continue to be surviving, thriving & growing into the next decade!

Warmest Regards 

Deanna

Surviving, Thriving & Growing EXHIBITION

To view the artwork of the 46 artists participating in the show
please click here.

Partial proceeds of artwork sales for the month of June will be donated to the Canadian Cancer Society to fund research and prevention initiatives.

Art Works Gallery would like to acknowledge the following Companies for their tremendous support of our Event: