Dec
Artist Tom Forrestall Donates Work
Posted under New Artists, |
Canadian artist donates proceeds from his paintings to save his church
Nova Scotia artist Tom Forrestall is creating a series of paintings about the Vatican and hopes to give half the proceeds from their sale to save a Halifax church.
The 71-year-old, a member of the Order of Nova Scotia, is in Italy this week to start his project. He said he might complete from 20 to 25 watercolours during his month-long stay.
"They'll all be done on the spot," he told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. "I turn on all my senses and I see the place and smell it and taste it and hear it and so on."
Forrestall, who is paying for the trip himself, plans to give half his profits to the St. Patrick's Church Restoration Society.
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Halifax has given the society a deadline of June 30, 2008, to raise $300,000 in cash and another $300,000 in pledges to save the church building.
The parish of St. Patrick's is to be merged with that of St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica, and if the society fails in its quest, the church will be sold.
Forrestall, who lives in nearby Dartmouth, said he has attended St. Patrick's in the past and is a friend of a priest who once served in the church.
He predicted his watercolours would sell for about $3,000 a piece at a special exhibit to be held in May.
"We have to prove to the archdiocese that there is widespread support," said Penny Doherty, who chairs the restoration society.
Doherty said Forrestall's project has been a blessing. "That's extremely substantial and it's a big boost for us."
From the CBC website 1/12/07 with files from the Associated Press
