A Richmond city councillor expressed her appreciation to an artist who painted her portrait for a show – unfortunately, city staff ordered it taken down and removed from the “Faces of Richmond” exhibit at the Minoru seniors centre.
A volunteer art group, the Community Arts Council of Richmond, interviewed 14 Richmond seniors as part of the exhibit, whose tagline was “Every senior has a story to tell.”
They asked Day to participate – as well as her 90-year-old aunt.
Day’s Richmond story started with her arriving as a four-year-old from Denmark with her family.
Nowhere in the interview does she talk about being a city councillor, nor is there any political spin, Day explained.
The removal of her portrait from the exhibit of a volunteer-run organization has given her some sleepless nights, as she greatly appreciated the artist’s portrait and the group’s work to pull together the exhibit, Day told the Richmond News.
“These guys are just volunteers,” she said, adding she was concerned they felt humiliated and put on the spot.
Not only was her portrait and the QR code that linked to her interview removed, some of the brochures for the exhibit were shredded, she explained.
“The artist is devastated – she thinks she’s done something wrong,” she added.
When Day asked city staff why her portrait, painted by Iris Absolon, was taken down, she was told it was a city policy to ask all city councillors to participate in any such initiative.
When Day pressed for the policy, she said she was told “it’s just the way we do things.”
Day noted former city councillor Harold Steves was part of an art exhibit while he was still on city council, whereby artists came and painted 13 paintings at his property on Steveston Highway. These were displayed at the Gateway Theatre and then later at Richmond City Hall just outside council chambers.
Furthermore, Day noted three city councillors aren’t even seniors, so they couldn’t take part in the show that featured Richmondites over the age of 65.
Day will be taking out a half-page ad in the Richmond News to thank the artist for her work.
“I’m paying for this, it has nothing to do with RITE (party),” she said.
Mayor Malcolm Brodie said he couldn’t comment on the situation because it was dealt with in a closed meeting.
