Local artist contributes paintings for Christmas

Pat Hicks, Pat Fryer, Laura Gibson, Susan Sparrow-Mace, Suzanne Vaillant, and Elaine Baitinger, Newark Neighbours volunteers, display some of the paintings donated by artist Kevin Conway, to go with the Christmas gifts and food boxes that were delive

Local artist Kevin Conway doesn’t sell his work, he gives it away.

Or if he does sell it, the money is donated to causes that are important to him.

This Christmas, he has chosen to donate paintings to Newark Neighbours.

Conway says, “for years, I volunteered at the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto, and know first hand what life is like for people needing assistance.”

The cheerful, brightly-coloured paintings will be a surprise, and a welcome gift for those in NOTL who will receive them with their Christmas food and gifts, says Newark Neighbours chair Laura Gibson.

In the past, he has given paintings to the Romero House in Toronto for refugees, and more recently to support programs for students with autism.

After not painting for 35 years, Conway picked up a brush again in 2017, after cancer forced him to slow down. His first exhibit was at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library in 2018, where he sold paintings to raise money for York University’s autism students support program, which he founded in 2014.

A percentage of his sales was also donated to the library.

Most of his acrylic paintings are done in a studio at the back of his NOTL home.

For more information about Conway visit https://www.kconwayart.com/