Contributed by: Stefanie Costales, Special Projects Worker
posAbilities hosted its 11th annual INCLUSION Art Show and Sale on October 28th and 29th this year at Heritage Hall. The two day event featured original and creative work from artists of diverse abilities from all around BC and invited the community to come together to celebrate how beautifully disability can be transcended through various media. This year, both Wednesday and Thursday highlighted our traditional Celebration of Art, featuring over 700 pieces of work created by nearly 200 artists.
The doors of Heritage Hall opened on Wednesday at 5pm to the public, and in no time the room was buzzing – live music was playing and art was selling! Many artists were present to mingle with over 350 attendees as they displayed their work. But it was not just art that kept the crowd lively; delicious appetizers, raffle prizes and silent auction baskets kept everyone’s energies high! In addition, Monique Nelson – Director of Community Engagement and Master of Ceremonies for the event was joined by artists, team members and guests to keep the crowd entertained!
HIGHLIGHT!
A main highlight from the night was our Holiday Card Winner, Alexander Magnussen of Semiahmoo House Society in Surrey. His creative design came to fruition after putting in 140 hours over 3 months to create this fantastic art piece called “Mountains”. His design was purchased by posAbilities and will be used in our electronic greeting cards, Imagine newsletter and online. Alexander came onto the stage when his name was announced and addressed the crowd in American Sign Language with the help of our Douglas College ASL translator volunteers. His speech was touching and extremely inspiring! Congratulations Alexander!
Thursday was an all-day affair, with doors open from 11am-8pm. The long day flew by as there was always new, friendly faces to greet and mingle with. The fun continued with raffle prizes drawn on the hour, two more silent auctions and yummy treats for all our guests, of course! INCLUSION was a major success – with the largest number of art and silent auction baskets sold and a record breaking attendance this year!
There are countless people who make this amazing event happen every year. A special thanks to our fellow associations and independent artists for participating and showcasing their work, posAbilities’ staff for supporting persons served in creating artwork and attending our event, our Art Show committee for their dedication and hard work and of course our fantastic volunteers for their time and energy!
Lastly, we would like to thank the INCLUSION Art Show & Sale 2015 Sponsors: BCGEU, Dawson Service Ltd and Color Time, as well as the many small businesses and private donors who contributed to our show this year. The generosity of the community is greatly appreciated and pivotal for the success of our event! For a full list of our artists, sponsors, supporters and volunteers, please see the attached program!
What was your highlight moment from the INCLUSION Art Show and Sale 2015? Share yours on our Facebook page, and visit for photos and updates to come!
