SHOW YOUR LOVE!
Blending art and nature to protect biodiversity
SHOW YOUR LOVE!
Blending art and nature to protect biodiversity
Founded by Tanya Markvart, SHOW YOUR LOVE! Art by People for the Planet organizes art-based fundraisers for select environmental charities.
As a child growing up in rural Prince Edward County and Bruce County, Ontario, Tanya Markvart forged a deep bond with nature and art. She spent hours outdoors, immersed in the mysterious ecosystems that comprised these places, learning through play about the creatures in her back yard: garter snakes, tadpoles and minnows, frogs and toads, beehives, barn swallows, giant moths, milkweed, and monarch caterpillars. One day, when she was 4 years old, she watched her Mother skillfully draw a portrait of Tanya and her sisters, and this was when her love for art was born. Today, Markvart’s acrylic ink paintings reflect her kinship with forests, beaches, farmlands, wetlands and the creatures who call these places home. In 2019, Markvart established SHOW YOUR LOVE! Art by People for the Planet as a platform that situates love and art at the centre of our efforts to protect wildlife and wilderness areas.
With the vision of providing “a space where people can show their love for wildlife and art in support of biodiversity, creativity, and living more sustainably,” SHOW YOUR LOVE! organizes art-based fundraisers for select environmental charities dedicated to protecting wildlife and natural habitat. Through generous artwork donations, the annual Special Art Project sells artwork with 100% of the proceeds donated to a recipient charity. Since its inception, SHOW YOUR LOVE! has gained traction as a viable art-based fundraising entity. Each year, the auction features a more diverse range of artists and raises more funds.
In SHOW YOUR LOVE!’s first year, 2019, Markvart donated five of her original paintings featuring a vibrant array of woodland and mountain creatures and raised $1,000 for the Ghost Bear Institute in British Columbia. This modest success gave Markvart the sense that there is a simmering audience ready for art-based fundraising in support of protecting wildlife, so she decided to keep pushing forward for another year. In 2020, avian-centred artwork by Stuart Burgess, Phil Irish, Leigh-Anne Ingram and Tanya Markvart raised $2,565 for the Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory in Ontario. The paintings sold out within the first three days of the auction!
Sponsored by the Canadian Honey Council, the most recent Special Art Project finished on November 13, 2021, featuring buzz-worthy artwork by Jennifer Walton, Michelle Purchase, Mona Turner, Tanya Markvart and photography by Teresa Walker. It raised $4,280 for Pollinator Partnership Canada’s Bee Friendly Farming program. The funds will help willing farmers pay for the program’s Bee Friendly Farming certification fees, a financial incentive that will attract farmers to the program.
SHOW YOUR LOVE! Art by People for the Planet is beautifully wielding the power of art to protect biodiverse ecosystems and encourage sustainable lifestyles. Markvart is looking forward to expanding SHOW YOUR LOVE!’s audience and experimenting with other ways of engaging art, artists and wildlife-lovers in support of environmental charities. To stay in the loop with SHOW YOUR LOVE!, sign up for email updates about future events and follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
The Art Gallery
A Grizzly Bear’s Daydream by Tanya Markvart. Acrylic ink on cradled birch wood panel. 10 x 12 inches.
Sold in the 2019 Special Art Project. All proceeds were donated to the Ghost Bear Institute.
We Paused for Moose by Tanya Markvart. Acrylic ink on cradled birch wood panel. 12 x 12 inches.
Sold in the 2019 Special Art Project. All proceeds were donated to the Ghost Bear Institute.
Flight Pattern (Blue jay) by Phil Irish. Watercolour on paper. 11 x 11 inches.
Sold in the 2020 Special Art Project. All proceeds were donated to the Bruce Peninsula Bird Observatory.
Little Bee on a Black-eyed Susan by Jennifer Walton. Oil on canvas. 12 x 12 inches.
Sold in the 2021 Special Art Project. All proceeds were donated to the Pollinator Partnership Canada’s Bee Friendly Farming program.
Blue Flag Iris by Teresa Walker. Canvas mounted on photo print. 12 x 12 inches.
Sold in the 2021 Special Art Project. All proceeds were donated to the Pollinator Partnership Canada’s Bee Friendly Farming program.
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