Toronto’s art community came together for a recent fundraiser.
A large group of Toronto artists and DJs recently came together for Artists Help Japan: Toronto, a 12-hour live event to raise money for Japan’s tsunami and earthquake relief. Local comic book artists like Jeff Lemire, Francis Manapul, Stuart Immonen, and Alvin Lee (amongst others) all auctioned off art work and sold commissioned drawings to help support the April 17 event.
“It was awe inspiring to see the outpour of support and compassion from Toronto’s Art and Music scene. To give back to a country that has influenced so many of today’s artists, including myself – I felt like it was the least I could do,” said Alvin Lee.
The festivities brought in $18,000 throughout the day, and event organizers UDON Entertainment threw in an extra $2,000 to bring the total up to $20,000. All proceeds were donated to the Red Cross.
“People were incredibly generous with their money that day. It was truly touching to see a city come together to support the people of Japan,” said Bobby Chiu, head of Imaginism studio.
Artists Help Japan was created by Dice Tsutsumi, an art director at Pixar, and the event has toured to a number of cities across North America. The Toronto edition of was spearheaded by a group of Toronto illustration studios that included UDON Entertainment and Imaginism studio.
More of the artists’ work will be sold off during a special auction at a future date. Keep an eye on the Artists Help Japan website if you want to know when the auction will take place.
