RISE to the Occasion

Last Thursday I stopped by at at the Burroughs Building (Queen and Bathurst) where RISE, an art/music fundraiser for SKETCH took place for one night only. The Show was hosted by Well and Good. (Previous coverage)

Great music was playing by DJs Platurn, Dopey and Serious while people circulated around the big space checking out the art. An outstanding lineup of local and international artists contributed their work for a good cause. Unfortunately the crowd that goes to these types of shows are not the monied-art collector types, and won't spend the cash these pieces are really worth. So it was almost heartbreaking to see people bidding on great work for a mere 100 bucks.

Yet despite the low bids the organizers still managed to get very close to their goal of raising $10,000 for SKETCH.

Among the highlights for me was a brief performance by Scott Hammell who showed everyone how to escape a straight jacket.

What was supposed to be a quick stop by to say hello, ended up being a few hours of fun, good music and good art. Some photos:

All photographs by Carlos Weisz