Julia Sacco 

The Lake Report

The RiverBrink Art Museum is launching an online fundraising project, called Adopt an Artwork, to coincide with its reopening on Aug. 5.

The program will allow visitors the opportunity to support the Queenston museum by making an annual donation and “adopting” an artwork.

Twenty different fan favourite artworks will be featured in the program, as well as five different giving levels starting with a donation of $50, offering accessibility and a variety of price points.

Debra Antoncic, the director and curator of the museum, said the program will benefit both the museum and the community of art lovers who visit.

“We can’t add to any of the fundraising events that we had underway that involved people getting together so we thought this was a fundraiser we could do without having people physically get together,” she said.

“There is a personal connection between different works of art that people have so we thought it would be a good idea to perhaps give them a chance to adopt an artwork.”

Donations will be used to support ongoing care and conservation of art works and to help ensure the future of the collection.

When a visitor chooses to adopt a work their name will be showcased on a label whenever the adopted work is exhibited, but “adopters” can choose to remain anonymous if preferred. 

While the launch of the fundraiser is digital, the goal of the museum is to eventually have all adopted work on display at once. 

“If someone wants to adopt a piece, the label can go up right away. Then, when our exhibition on our main floor closes up in September, we will be able to put up more work and then the idea is that by the winter we will have everything that is available for adoption up on display,” said Antoncic.

When RiverBrink reopens next week it will be accessible by appointment Wednesday to Saturday.

More details about the Adopt an Artwork program can be found at http://www.riverbrink.org/.