Final selections have been made and the five donated coupe/plates have been installed in the Luxe Hall at Vancouver’s Western Front. The Gala evening and auction takes place on Saturday, and I think is sold out, but this year a preview has been arranged for us ordinary mortals to view the collection of donated art.

Tomorrow, Thursday and Friday afternoons, March 1st to 3rd the Luxe Hall will be open to the public from noon until 6pm. Western Front technician Ben Wilson has taken a couple of photos of the installation. They do look rather fine in a row together. Now let’s hope some wealthy arts patron decides to give them a home! Donating to the cause has been a fun incentive to get some new work done and a further excuse for Raiders to work on painting ceramics.

Thanks for the photos Ben, and to Eric for forwarding them to me this evening.

If you click on this link you’ll see the auction catalogue and if you then click on the five plates you can read more about the Raiders’ history.

https://westernfrontauction2017.tumblr.com

Or, to save you the effort, this is a description of the plates and an explanation of who the Raiders are:

Set of five hand-built, hand-painted ceramic plates. Designed and built by local potter Gillian McMillan, this year’s plates are painted by artists Gillian McMillan, Mina Totino, Cindy Richmond, Philippe Raphanel and Marlene Madison.
Photo credit: Al McMillan.

Beginning in 2010, a group of artists armed themselves with cheeses, cold cuts, quiches, salads and desserts to go out to Gillian McMillan’s pottery studio in Port Moody on a “raid”. Since then, The Raiders have convened once a season to paint ceramic plates together. Building on the longtime friendship and artistic collaboration between Western Front co-founder Eric Metcalfe and established potter Gillian McMillan, the now infamous “Raiders” have provided an exciting platform for artists to experiment in a new medium, over lunch and in good company. Past and current Raiders include: Marian Penner Bancroft, Greg Bellerby, Eli Bornowsky, Cathy Busby, Allyson Clay, Monique Fouquet, Karen Henry, Garry Neill Kennedy, Lyse Lemieux, Katie Lyle, Elizabeth McIntosh, David MacWilliam, Paul Mathieu, Eric Metcalfe, Ciara Phillips, Jacquelyn Ross, Rick Ross, Colette Urban, and Renée Van Halm.