Sudbury artists using talents to raise money for Black Lives Matter

In recent weeks, many people in Sudbury have taken to the streets in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. 

With conversations about racism and police brutality front of mind, a group of artists is working to use its skills to show support, and encourage donations to relevant causes. 

The artists are offering commissions of their work, in exchange for donations. Over the last two weeks, their customers have donated hundreds of dollars to causes ranging from funds for Black trans women, for George Floyd's children, and Black mental health.

The group, called Artists for Black Lives Matter, was started by Laurentian student Darius Garneau. 

"I'm not an artist myself, but you know there's a lot of talent here in Sudbury and [I thought] it would be cool to be able to gather that all in one place and focus it towards something positive," Garneau said. 

'Overwhelmed' by support 

Garneau has been following the news, and says after seeing what happened to George Floyd — and the subsequent protests — he "felt really compelled to do something."

"I felt like I had some sort of responsibility to try and find a way to, you know, help with the things going on in whatever capacity that I could," Garneau said. 

He says he was inspired by artists he'd seen on the social media site Reddit who were offering their work in exchange for donations. He started contacting local artists to see if he could move this forward in Sudbury.

Garneau says he had no trouble finding artists happy to do commissions for zero personal profit. 

"It felt good to know how easy it was," he said. 

Garneau started a Facebook page and Instagram account, where he features one artist each week.

Digital artist and Cambrian College student Erica Scott-Thomas was first up. Scott-Thomas had already started doing commissions for Black Lives Matter through her own Instagram page, and said she was happy to join Garneau's initiative. 

"As a student I can't donate hundreds of dollars myself, but I figured I would like to use my own platform," Scott-Thomas said. 

Scott-Thomas says she's been "overwhelmed" by the support, and has already completed more than 30 commissions. She also says using her platform to support Black Lives Matter has lead to conversations with family and friends and followers that she may not have had otherwise — and that she hopes will continue.

"Especially because most people I know are white. So it's really important to me to have them be educated," Scott-Thomas said. 

"It's really awesome to see people maybe not  understanding but asking me and looking for more resources to further understand and wanting to help out." 

Long-term initiative 

Garneau says he never expected the level of community support the initiative has received — as well as the interest from artists. He says he may even restructure how the page operates. 

"There might need to be three artists of the week because you know so many people want to help out," he said. 

He hopes to continue the initiative for many weeks to come, and he hopes it could help keep conversations going.

"If everybody's feeling like they have in the last little while, then I bet this will go on for a very long time."