Posted on Jul 16, 2018
Multi-media, 6’ X 6’ X 7’, Created by Derek Rickwood, BFA
 
My New Rotary Story by Derek Rickwood
 
On Saturday, June 23rd I was excited to share my first fine art exhibit designed to help promote Rotary with so many Rotarians and other humanitarians from around the world at our recent RI convention in House of Friendship at the Toronto Metro Convention Centre.
I created the exhibit to fit within small 10’ X 10’ X 8’ booth area and designed the booth to explain its purpose: ‘To promote Rotary to Non-Rotarians and to young people from around the world'.
 
It's purpose as its name indicates is to promote awareness of Rotary and to improve public support for Rotary clubs and their success with humanitarian endeavours locally and  throughout the world. It's designed to be mobile and to teach about Rotary to Non-Rotarians and young people throughout the world. The cost is to be supported by securing corporate and private sponsorship - a task I will personally manage.
 
I have been waiting 28 years since acquiring my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Victoria, to introduce my original fine art.
 
Although I have been creating custom paintings since 1986 and working on another fine art exhibit for the past ten years, I decided to participate with the RI convention taking place in Toronto this year I found a worthwhile cause I had experience with and believed was important enough to use for my first fine art exhibition!
 
I started this exhibition’s process just after RI’s last convention in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.  From conceiving the idea to create a Rotary promotional fine art exhibit and the countless hours devoted to creating and set up the exhibit in a booth at the House of friendship and personally financing it I had ran into a problem trying to apply for RI licencing.
I was only weeks away from showing my fine art exhibit when I received an email from the communications department which controls the licensing of Rotary images and logos, that they did not understand my exhibit and were not sure how to proceed with it.  Even though my exhibit was approved, and I was awarded a booth at the House of Friendship I decided to approach my local Rotary club to support my personal Rotarian project. I was pleased that my club executive was willing to endorse my fine art exhibit.  With the support of my club, I changed the name of the exhibit to be the ‘Rotary Club of Nanaimo North Rotary Promotional Fine Art Exhibit’.
Showcasing my club’s name with my fine art was wonderful!
 
I attended the convention to showcase my Rotary fine art and kept an open mind because I have never done anything like this before. I was open to any possibilities I would experience.
I had many experiences with wonderful Rotarians and people associated with setting up my booth at the House of Friendship exhibition, such as: Roberta Smith, Freemans exhibit manager and I had a chance to meet a devoted and kind Rotarian named Madiha Khan, President of the Rotary Club of Mississauga-Dixie. She was in charge of Rotaractors in the Toronto area who assisted me at my booth.
 
Even though I was unable leave my booth and I didn’t have a partner at the exhibition, I was I able to meet countless Rotarians and humanitarians from around the world. The convention was an opportunity to share ideas and passions about helping humanity. I am excited to report I learned and discovered and shared ideas with my art with others in ways I could never have expected.
 
The exhibit included paintings that depicted the six areas of focus we support through our RI Foundation. They were selected to move the emotions of the viewer and they did!
 
‘Promoting Peace’, Oil on canvas, 20” x 32”
 
‘Fighting Disease’, Oil on canvas, 20” x 32”
 
‘Providing Clean Water, Sanitation & Hygiene’, Oil on canvas, 20” x 32”
 
‘Helping Mothers & Children’, Oil on canvas, 20” x 32”
 
‘Supporting Education’, Oil on canvas, 20” x 32”
 
‘Growing Local Economies’, Oil on canvas, 20” x 32”
 
My exhibit was able to represent every cause presented in the House of Friendship.
On the fourth day of the convention, I was excited as I met David Elizalde, a new president of the Rotary Club of Amarillo, Texas who wanted my exhibit to help promote Rotary in his district and raise funds for the RI foundation through the sale of prints of the paintings that are part of the exhibit during this time.
He will be flying me down to Texas in the fall to be a part of civic event. He plans to unveil my Rotary promotional fine art exhibit.
I have been following up with other Rotarians that I met during my time exhibiting over five days and there have been numerous connections with them and other humanitarian groups from the around the world.
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