Chris Jones makes muffins at LiveWorkPlay.ca, an organization that offers support for people living with intellectual disabilities and that will benefit from the silent auction.
For the first time, Ottawa will play host to a silent art auction where money means nothing and time means everything.
On Nov. 15 at the Canadian War Museum, the public will join Ottawa’s arts and volunteering communities for the auction, Timeraiser, which will sell artwork to raise volunteer hours, instead of money, for non-profit and charitable organizations.
“Not everybody has the money necessarily to donate to a charitable organization, but everybody can usually donate some time,” says Robyn Bragg, an Ottawa graphic designer and painter, who has a painting that will be auctioned off at the event.
Although guests must buy a $20 ticket, those who bid the most volunteer hours win. Once they complete their hours, they receive the artwork and “the hope is that they will continue to volunteer for the organization,” says Janessa Bishop, who is in charge of the art plan for the event.
She explains that Timeraiser is targeted at people in their 20s and 30s as an easy way to get them involved in their community, because it is often difficult for them to find time to search for agencies and then volunteer for them.
The event enables them to be paired with an organization, decide how much time they want to volunteer, acquire a piece of artwork and support an artist, Bishop says.
Another Timeraiser goal is to support artists by showcasing their work and providing exposure, while also paying them at fair market value for their pieces, she says.
The money to pay the artists for their pieces comes from several Ottawa law firms and corporate partners, such as Minto, RBC Financial Group, Molson and CIBC.
“Having my work represented in something like this, especially for the first Ottawa Timeraiser, is pretty meaningful,” says Eric Chan, an Ottawa freelance artist with a painting up for auction.
Bragg says the event is “a really clever idea” and a “win-win situation” because it supports artists in the community and organizations.
Both artists say getting paid for their work and garnering visibility from the event are major benefits of their participation.
“The fact that they’re actually sort of paying us full price for the artwork is always a big deal,” Bragg says.
“It’s difficult to sell your work and I don’t know any artist who makes a lot of money.”
Chan says Timeraiser will provide an opportunity for him to “expand [his] presence in the art world.”
The event is “very unique and innovative,” says Julie Kingstone, president and co-founder of LiveWorkPlay.ca, an Ottawa organization that offers supports for youth and adults with intellectual disabilities.
She says one reason her organization is participating is because she hopes it will bring in new volunteers, and the event seems to take a different approach to a volunteer recruitment fair held in a shopping mall or at a college or university.
“People don’t always know … what organizations are looking for in terms of volunteers, so I think it’s a great way to have people come and find out about organizations and get to know them in a fun environment.”
Timeraiser began in Toronto in 2002, and its success has allowed it to expand this year to Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver.
Bishop says Ottawa is a good venue for the event because it has both people who want to give back to their community and a large underground arts scene with artists who have a lot of potential.