Overview
Pennant Media Group was hired by Toronto’s Casey House to publicize its most significant fundraiser in 2014 and 2015. Art With Heart is an annual charity contemporary art auction held by Casey House to raise essential funds for the organization’s yearly HIV/AIDS-related initiatives. A curatorial committee of prominent artists, curators and art collectors select works by emerging and established Canadian artists with the generous support of galleries across the country.
Funds raised at this annual auction featuring some of the country’s most celebrated as well as emerging artists will benefit a number of Casey House’s initiatives including sending skilled teams of registered nurses and workers into clients’ homes, providing rehabilitative care and recreation therapy at the hospice, and bringing specialized HIV nursing care via partner clinics to marginalized people who lack access to treatment.
PMG’s Approach
With the auction in its 22nd year, Art With Heart’s challenge was to remind its audience why this fundraiser is important and why they should continue to support this cause. While PMG continued to push the message that the funds raised at this auction would benefit Casey House’s HIV/AIDS-related initiatives, we also focused on the art that was featured in the auction. We emphasized Casey House’s support for both established and emerging Canadian artists and its continued support for local artists throughout the years.
PMG reached out to both traditional and non-traditional outlets to raise public awareness of Art With Heart. We pitched to newspapers, online news outlets, bloggers, influencers and more to get the word out on the annual auction and its preview the week prior.
Results
PMG secured coverage from outlets such as AZNModern, TUSSLE Magazine, Studio Beat, Toronto Guardian and PositiveLite.com. Art blog The Jealous Curator featured Art With Heart as an event for art lovers to look out for. PMG also coordinated an interview between blogger David McDonough and featured artist Kim Dorland, whose piece alone contributed $23,000 to the total funds raised during the Art With Heart auction in 2015. Media that attended the auction include representatives from Huffington Post Canada, Artoronto.ca, Best of Toronto and Snapd.
