Art by the Water to set sail again

Six local artists will once more join forces this Friday for a three-day art exhibit at the Beaconsfield Yacht Club, with the intent to donate funds that are raised to Morgan's Hope Foundation, a charity that has been run by Pointe Claire resident Terry Delaney after her son Morgan Hill succumbed to adolescent colon cancer in 2005.

"We chose her charity because we believed in it," said Audrey Riley, a local artist and one of the main organizers of the show, who also helped put the original one together last year.

When Hill was originally diagnosed with cancer as a 20-year-old, he started raising money himself. Now his mother continues the work with the hope of helping out an adolescent colon cancer study at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC).

Riley, who is friends with the family, said all six of the exhibiting artists will be donating a percentage of their proceeds to the fund, and a donation jar will be available as well, just like last year.

"We sold 40 paintings last year," Riley, who has worked in still life for a very long time but described herself as an artist who does "all styles," said.

Jerry Ilavsky, another of the exhibiting artists, specializes in watercolours, and will be exhibiting marina scenes from various parts of the world, including some from the Beaconsfield Yacht Club. "I had attended the show last year," Ilavsky explained, adding he had even lent the artists some easels in 2008. With one of the group missing from last year, Ilavsky gladly accepted to fill in.

The show's vernissage is at 5 p.m. on Friday, April 24. It will continue on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Beaconsfield Yacht Club, 26, Lakeshore Road, Beaconsfield.