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Horse show art show and sale benefits Langley hospice

Remembering Betty, an art show was truly memorable for organizers.
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Langley artists Murray Phillips (left) and Brian Croft co-founded the West Fine Art Show

A Langley artist’s wife was remembered through fine art and generosity last weekend at Thunderbird Show Park.

Stunning was the best way to describe the quality of artwork on display during the West Fine Art Show that ran Aug. 20 to 23 at Thunderbird Show Park.

The sixth annual show, called Remembering Betty, was a tribute to founder Murray Phillips’ wife, who passed away in 2013.

This was the third show in partnership with the Langley Hospice Society and was held in memory of Betty Phillips.

Brent Cooke posed behind his bronze sculpture Wing Speed. Cooke is the winner of the Canadian Wildlife Federation Robert Bateman Award for wildlife conservation.

Langley Hospice’s Shannon Todd Booth said the show was “a lasting legacy of a kind and generous woman who is remembered for her gracious and faithful heart, gentle smile, and unassuming ways.”

The show, held in conjunction with Thunderbird’s Summer Fort Festival, was a phenomenal success and saw more than $50,000 in art sales throughout the weekend, 25 per cent of which (equalling more than $12,000) benefiting the society.

Todd-Booth said the society is thankful for the partnership with the West Fine Art Society, the event sponsors such as Annabel Young of Homelife Benchmark Realty in Walnut Grove, volunteers, and who she described as the “amazing group” of Western Canadian artists who participate in the show annually to help raise important funds and awareness to assist the Langley Hospice Society.

Fundraisers such as this, Todd-Booth noted, help the society ensure that important palliative and bereavement care and support programs and services continue “in our community, for our community.”

Several of Calgary artist Doug Levitt’s paintings were on display.