Meet the Artists Who Make the Swim Drink Fish Movement Possible

As Swim Drink Fish has grown and evolved over the years, artists have become guides for exploring our vision of a world where communities can swim in their local waters without risking their health, drink the water flowing from their taps without fear of illness, and where fish and wildlife thrive and prosper in their natural environment.

Even though artists often have the least to give, they are the first to contribute. A musician creates a song. A painter creates a painting. A story-teller crafts a message. And the Swim Drink Fish movement creates communities where everyone has access to clean water. In the past 8 years, over 90 artists have donated 188 works of art to our live auction at the Swim Drink Fish Gala.

These incredible works have raised a total of $1,357,000 for Swim Drink Fish initiatives. They have helped us reach 3-million people who are passionate about safeguarding the waters that we depend so deeply on. They have helped us expand our grassroots projects, such as the Vancouver Water Monitoring Program. Thanks to the generous contributions of passionate artists, Swim Drink Fish has connected with over 180 communities, 400 citizen scientists, and powered more than 3,000 youth education programs.

The Swim Drink Fish movement needs leaders who support our digital platforms that connect people to water and each other. The movement needs storytellers and voices who can inspire and inform a new generation of guardians. For the 2019 Swim Drink Fish Gala, 7 artists have donated works of art for the Art Auction that do just that. This year’s contributing artists are Dana Claxton, Kim Dorland, Shepard Fairey, Angela Grossmann, James Lahey (a Swim Drink Fish Ambassador), Steven Nederveen, and James Verbicky.

We are incredibly excited to host the Art Auction at the 4th Semi-Annual Swim Drink Fish Gala on September 28th at Rosewood Hotel Georgia. This auction will be our chance to team up with our partners in the art-world, to connect people to our mission in protecting our most precious resource, and showcase the talent, story-telling, and passion of the artists who have generously contributed to our cause.

The 2019 Art Auction collection will be unveiled on Monday, September 16 at Kostuik Gallery. This Preview will give us a sneak peek of the collection as well as offer an opportunity to celebrate this year’s renowned artists and connect our partners in the Swim Drink Fish Movement with Canada’s art community. If you are interested in attending our Art Auction Preview please RSVP and if you would like to a ticket to our Gala you can learn more here. 

THE 2019 ART AUCTION COLLECTION

STEVEN NEDERVEEN

Electric Clouds 2
Mixed media on panel
36” x 36”
Donated by the artist courtesy Bau-Xi Gallery

Through an artistic practice that combines painting and photography, Steven Nederveen’s work deals with the connections between spirituality and our natural environment...[read more]

SHEPARD FAIREY

Bias By Numbers
30th Anniversary Edition
Silkscreen on paper
41” x 30”
Donated anonymously

Shepard Fairey is an American graphic artist, muralist, illustrator and social activist, who became widely known during the 2008 US presidential election for his Barack Obama Hope poster...[read more]

DANA CLAXTON

Tatanka 1
Inkjet print, AP
48” x 60”
Courtesy of the artist

Dana Claxton is a Vancouver-based Hunkpapa Lakota (Sioux) artist whose multidisciplinary practice centres on film, video, photography, and performance art...[read more]

ANGELA GROSSMANN

Blue Angel
Oil on mylar
42” x 28”
Courtesy of the artist

Angela Grossmann is an internationally acclaimed artist best known for her powerfully expressive collages and drawings, exploring issues of human identity...[read more]

JAMES VERBICKY

Monetaire
Mixed media collage and resin on wood
30” x 30”
Donated by the artist courtesy Jennifer Kostuik Gallery

While exhibiting in Paris in 2008, painter James Verbicky began gathering ephemera from vendors set up along the Seine, experiencing a pivotal turning point in his artistic practice...[read more]

JAMES LAHEY

Flight (From Made in Canada Part 2, Canada Goose), 2019
Ultrachrome pigment on canvas over panel, ed 1/15
72” x 48”
Donated by the artist courtesy Jennifer Kostuik Gallery

James Lahey is a Canadian artist with a reputation for large-scale landscapes, still life paintings, his large scale motorcycle works and most recently his "Made in Canada" series...[read more]

KIM DORLAND

Mystery Lake
Oil on burlap
30” x 24”
Courtesy of the artist

Kim Dorland rose to the forefront of the Canadian contemporary art scene in the 2000s with his sculptural approach to impasto... [read more]