Artists for Conservation Festival – China
In 2017 Pollyanna and her daughter and business Partner Anna-Louise were honoured to be invited to travel to China as part of an official delegation of artists and conservationists in a bid to encourage protection of threatened species worldwide, as well as to strengthen links and initiate new collaborations with China.
A selection of Pollyanna’s original paintings were included in the Artists for Conservation Society’s International Exhibition and Conservation Festival at the Lanwan Art Museum which forms part of a 50-acre ecological park art village and public gallery, located in one of China’s most beautiful and important coastal cities – Qingdao City.
Eleven International . delegates (pictured right – except for Anna-Louise who was behind the camera!) were in attendance for a formal opening week of events, including talks, exhibition previews and official banquets. Pollyanna was the only artist to have been invited to attend from the UK or Europe – her fellow delegates all travelled from Canada and North America. The delegates hosted Chinese officials throughout the opening week – and were also honoured to welcome Cindy Termorshuizen the deputy Canadian Ambassador to China who flew from Beijing for the preview event. Pollyanna and Anna-Louise also joined AFC Founder and President Jeff Whiting and event organiser Brent Cooke to face the Chinese media and take part in a press conference. Pollyanna was pleased to discover that her painting of a tiger was one of just three pieces of artwork selected to appear on all the promotional banners and adverts!
“It is a huge honour to have been invited to take part in this ground breaking International Festival of Wildlife art – the first of its kind in China.” Pollyanna commented “It is a wonderful opportunity to promote a message of conservation and animal protection – with paintings there is no language barrier.” The exhibition proved such a success it was extended for a further four weeks, running from the beginning of August through until the end of November.
Pollyanna also demonstrated her artistic skills throughout the event – creating a brand new piece of artwork live in the gallery while chatting to guests about her work. The resulting piece will be auctioned during a future gala event to raise funds to support youth education and wildlife conservation efforts in China.