National Gallery "Canadian" Fundraiser

The National Gallery of Canada's Volunteers' Circle needed to raise funds to launch their outreach program to introduce immigrants who have recently become Canadian citizens to Canadian art. They asked me to write and design a poster that invited their donors to the fundraiser.

At the top of the poster, FUNDRAISER clearly indicates the purpose of the poster.

The headline "It doesn’t get more Canadian than the Group of Seven (or Maple Syrup)" let's people know which food and art are exclusively Canadian; it promises a feast for the taste buds and a feast for the eyes.

Body Copy: Join us at our Maple Sugar Shack Party to raise funds to give New Canadians the introduction they deserve to Canadian Art. Let us treat you to an exclusive talk on how the sap from 1000 trees gets transformed into just 400 litres of maple syrup and the first taste-testing of the season with a golden piece of maple syrup pie. Funds raised will launch our program to help New Canadians become acquainted with some of our sweetest national treasures.

The audience for this poster is the Gallery's group of regular donors. They are art enthusiasts and know that the Group of Seven is a staple of the Canadian art world. This is their chance to proudly introduce immigrants to beautiful Canadian art. Now that's something to be patriotic about!

Design
As red is our national colour, red elements on the poster visually tie together those things that are Canadian. We managed to get usage rights to a famous Group of Seven artwork that features Maple Trees. I superimposed a photograph of a sap bucket to the painted tree. We are literally and figuratively tapping the Group of Seven maple tree and the Donors for the funds needed to bring the outreach program to life.

We produced the poster in both French and English, the official languages of Canada.