‘A labour of love’ is the category for these and other non-commercial works I’ve created ~ but I don’t think of it as labour! Non-profit organizations representing the arts, animals, youth and social causes are among those I am drawn to support. It’s a privilege and an honour to be connected with them in any way; if in-kind contributions of graphic design & writing ~ or sewing! (see Ribbon Skirts for Kettle and Stony Point First Nation, below) ~ are useful to them, I’m happy to be involved. These are some of my recent projects ‘from the heart’:

• Kincardine Summer Music Festival Special Events:

(1) Posters, gift print, advertising, programmes, tickets & postcards for the 23rd Anniversary Performance of Händel’s ‘Messiah’ by Orchestra Grey Bruce and the Saugeen County Chorus, a special KSMF presentation:

(2) Various posters, advertising, signage and more for events comprising the 2023 Kincardine Summer Music Festival:

• ‘Cats of Langside’ 2024 Calendar in support of ArtCity & Sunshine House

Continuing for the 3rd year in a row, photos (primarily) by the 12-year-old Yafa, are featured in her fund-raising project in collaboration with her Langside Street, Winnipeg neighbour, Susan. I was pleased to donate graphic design services to this effort which has resulted in the donation of several thousand dollars to Yafa’s chosen recipients, as well as local radio and newspaper coverage plus multiple awards for the young photographer. Those Cats of Langside are a photogenic bunch!

• Ribbon Skirts for Kettle and Stony Point First Nation

A call for participants in an initiative by Miss Kettle and Stony Point Jr., 13-year-old Jaylynn Wolfe and her mother, Laura Wolfe, was announced in the summer of 2021, with the goal of sewing ribbon skirts for the girls and young women of Kettle and Stony Point, located near Ipperwash, Ontario.

The original goal was to create 100 skirts in time for winter solstice, Dec. 21, 2021 ~ but response was so enthusiastic, with people buying multiple kits and volunteering to sew additional skirts into the New Year, that the ultimate number attained was significant:  215, representing the children who died at a B.C. residential school and whose remains were discovered in May 2021 (the first of many more unmarked graves subsequently found across the country over the year).

These are the skirts I sewed for Jaylynn’s initiative:

In February 2022, with the number of skirts surpassing 215, it was announced that the entire collection would be displayed at the Huron County Museum in Goderich, Ontario, prior to distributing to the Kettle and Stony Point recipients. Now at time of writing, March 20, the exhibit opened last weekend, on the 12th, and will run until April 10, 2022. Visit the exhibit page on the museum site here.

An article early on in the project, published Oct. 3, 2021, in The Stratford Beacon Herald, can be seen here, and on March 18, 2022, The Kincardine News announced that “Jaylynn Wolfe is One of Twelve Recipients of the Ontario Junior Citizen Award”; read about it here.

• ‘The Cats of Langside’ Calendar in support of Art City, Winnipeg

This was fun! My sister-in-law, Susan, and her 10-year-old neighbour, Yafa, launched themselves into planning a calendar celebrating their local feline population, acting on a neighbour’s spur-of-the-moment comment, “Oh, the cats of Langside, they should have their own calendar.” Combining their photos with Yafa’s artwork and a few images contributed by their neighbours, they began to draft a layout and I was lucky enough to be asked to help; below is the result of our collaboration. It’s important to note that Yafa and Susan intended the calendar as a fund-raiser for Art City, “a not-for-profit community art studio dedicated to providing people of all ages with innovative and professional art programming, free of charge. Art City’s primary goal is to provide space and tools for anyone who wishes to express themselves creatively.” On February 8, 2022, Yafa and Susan presented Art City with $3,450 raised by the sale of ‘The Cats of Langside’ to cat-lovers across the country.

‘The Cats of Langside’ Calendar made a repeat appearance for a second year, supporting Art City and RaY (Resource Assistance for Youth) in 2023.

• Kincardine Summer Music Festival 30th Anniversary

The Kincardine Summer Music Festival ~ a world-class concert series combined with music education programs ~ annually presents a wonderful week-long musical event on the shores of Lake Huron, Ontario, and in 2021 celebrated its 30th anniversary. As a violin student, I attended its intensive music workshops; as a music-lover, enjoyed its live music in the park and evening concert series; and as a brand new KSMF board member in 2021, decided to honour its special occasion with the donation of a hand-made Ted Brewer electric violin. I designed a series of posters which offered the first donors of $30 or more the opportunity to win this “unique, beautiful instrument, with varied tone colours and super-cool effects”.

The lucky recipient was a 13-year-old multi-instrumentalist who, it turned out, had attended KSMF workshops for several years and was looking to expand his collection for public performances.

• Signature Logo for Foli-Lakana, Mali, West Africa

Having designed the ‘Bala’ CD cover art for balafón master Lassana Diabaté, as well as multiple promotional materials and written pieces for Lassana’s website (here), I was asked to create a signature image for his new association for ‘safe-guarding’ music in his home community of southern Mali. The assignment began through the auspices of The Centre for Sound Communities at Cape Breton University, but I chose to contribute the logo design in support of Lassana’s goals “to help young people”.

• Lions Club Float Banners

The Kincardine & District Lions Club does a great deal of good for our community, not only contributing funds to help local organizations, but committing time, sweat equity and positive energy for a wide range of activities:  helping annually to erect and dismantle sound stages for BluesFest, building the beach-side boardwalk, contracting a very popular splash pad, supplying crossing guard shelters, constructing a bandshell and picnic shelter, and countless other initiatives for all to enjoy. One of the projects I worked on for them was the design of banners for their parade float, which débûted at Christmas 2019.