By Anil Patel

The day after a Timeraiser can be a bit of bummer sometimes. With so much build up before the event, energy required to get through the evening, then finding the extra energy to get everything into storage the following morning is like experiencing an emotional hangover.

I thought the day after the Winnipeg Timeraiser was not going to be any exception to that rule. Especially considering it meant spending a Saturday morning unloading all the supplies, solo. (Can you hear the little violins playing?) However, after getting everything into storage, doing inventory, and then dropping off the van, an unusual instinct kicked in. It was my mini Forest Gump response: I started to walk. And walk. And walk. For nearly 6 hours in and around downtown Winnipeg.

And Winnipeg completely surprised me.

• [Good] 2:30 pm – Happened to stumble across the 9th Open Doors Winnipeg, giving people access to unique opportunities to explore over 30 heritage buildings.
  
  
• [Bad] 3:00 pm – Walking by the Cummings theatre in the Exchange area, two EMS attendants were tending to a teenager passed out in a back alley.
  
  
• [Good] 3:30 pm – Had a coffee in the Winnipeg Public Library, and witnessed a stranger go out of his way to open the door for a women confined to a wheelchair.
  
  
• [Bad] 3:45 pm – Walking past Windsor Hotel, saw a shit-faced old man, fall over several times. Two woman walked up to  him to help, but he swung his arms aimlessly.
  
  
• [Good] 4:30 pm – ‘Hung out’ at The Forks watching some of the Skate"4"Cancer Festival. Tons of kids and families hanging out.
  
  
• [Bad] 5:00 pm – Went online to look up when the Canadian Museum of Human Rights is supposed to open. Found out there are lots of delays and controversy. On the home page news section, the board chair wrote a response to a Winnipeg Free Press story on cost overruns.
  
  
• [Good] 5:30 pm – Continued to walk around the Forks, and there was so much amazing activity going on, especially in the kids activity area.
  
  
• [Good] 7:00 pm – Made my way over to the Winnipeg Art Gallery, where the Norman Rockwell exhibit was such a hit, the WAG extended the show and exhibit hours.
  
  
• [Good] 8:00 pm – Toured Plug-In Gallery. Chatted with Winnipeg Artist Michael Benjamin Brown, who was also staffing the gallery until close. He asked what I was doing in town. I explained. He hadn’t heard of the Timeraiser, but loved the way we authentically support artists.

What am I rambling about? For me, today was a rare opportunity to take advantage of a free schedule. It was so amazing to walk in whatever direction a streetlight directed me. It provided a let the sights and sounds draw me in one direction to the next in a city I really like.

Winnipeg is awesome. While it often gets so much bad press, it has way more good things going for it than most people give it credit.

On the Thursday before the 2nd Winnipeg Timeraiser, Amanda and Anil visited with Erin Bartlett from United Way Winnipeg. While waiting in the lobby, we picked up a copy of the 2nd edition of Eagle’s Eye View: An environmental scan of the Aboriginal Community in Winnipeg.

One section stood out in particular: Contributions to the arts by Aboriginal People. The research highlighted one very startling economic fact. Aboriginal artists earn 30% less than the average Canadian artists ($22,700); a level that is near or below the poverty line.

Just before the meeting, Amanda and Anil purchased three works of art from Wah-Sa Gallery, dedicated to promoting Aboriginal artists. As we wrote about in a previous post, one of the artists we selected was Ted Oster. He is a self-taught artist living in Winnipeg. Of the $11,900 we invested in the careers of artists, 15% was earmarked directly for Aboriginal artists. Taking a moment to re-read Eagle Eye View on Saturday, one paragraph stood out in particular:

“Aboriginal people in the arts face many challenges, including lack of resources, limited recognition, preconceived notions and they are navigating between artistic practice and cultural expectations.” (pg 19)

Well, here is our response: we are going to – just as we have in our printing and catering social procurement strategy – explicitly ensure that a specific amount of money we raise is allocated to help Aboriginal artists make their careers financially sustainable. (You can read about our social procurement strategy here.)

Specifically, we are going to set a base line of how much of the art we purchase nationally will come from dedicated outreach from Aboriginal artists. While this isn’t the first time we’ve thought about doing this, we have now reached a particular size and scale, especially with our corporate partners, to make this a cornerstone in the development of the Timeraiser program.

If you haven’t had a chance to read our social procurement strategy, you can view it here. We’d be interested in what you think. Are we on the right track? Are we missing something? Do you know of any Aboriginal artists that we can connect to?

Nice work Winnipeg! We raised just over 4,000 volunteer hours on Friday May 25th! 

MTS signed up as a sponsor just a few weeks ago, helping us meet our goals of over $10,000 invested in local emerging artists. The  additional sponsorship money allowed us to purchase a few more works of art for the Winnipeg Timeraiser, bringing the total to $11,500! You can view our Winnipeg artwork gallery here.

The night was great for a couple reasons. First, emcee Kerri Salki from 102.3 Clear FM was able to acknowledge 5 of 16 people that completed their pledge from last year. She brought them on stage to read out their accomplishments. Celebrating last year's winners really helped others in the crowd to witness how ‘doable’ a Timeraiser pledge actually is.

Second, with 26 organizations in the room, there were lots of interested volunteer opportunities for people to get involved with. One of our main collaborators, Volunteer Manitoba, passed along that most organizations they spoke to were getting a lot of good connections throughout the night.

Third, a big thanks to our volunteers who helped made the night happen, especially our co-chairs Janellyn Marcial and Heather Flynn. They put in countless hours preparing for the event.


Finally, we were devastated to learn the news of Violet Nelson, who was fatally injured in a cycling accident on the Wednesday before the Timeraiser. Violet was one of the Manager's of the Graffiti Gallery - a Timeraiser agency. Graffiti Gallery understandably was not present at our event, but we lit a candle and put up their poster in recognition of the work they do and for Violet. 

We’ll be writing about our new art strategy in the next blog post. In the meantime, below is the list of the winners from last night. And the team is already starting to plan our 3rd Winnipeg Timeraiser.

Were you at the Timeraiser? What did you think of the artwork and volunteer opportunities? Any ideas about where we could do this next year? Keep the comments coming.

We also want to thank all our other friends, collaborators and sponsors for making the evening so much fun: MTS, Investors Group  Quantum Graphics, The Winnipeg Foundation, Volunteer Manitoba, CIBC, PWC, RBC, and TD.

Recognition must be made to Amanda Lanoway (United Way Regina) Ida Leruyet (SaskEnergy) and Christina Attard (Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Regina) who were a massive and consistent help in all of our planning efforts.  A big thank you to our Local Founding Partner SaskEnergy and Lead Community Partner United Way Regina as well as to our other amazing sponsors and volunteers who made the evening possible.