Television and Radio appearances
Art for AIDS relief
By Hollie Watson The Chronicle
He’s bucking for an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records, and all indications are he will succeed. Montreal artist Eric Waugh is a man with a mission. “I want to create the world’s largest painting in an effort to help children who are infected with or affected by AIDS,” Waugh said. “It all began with a movie-of-the-week on television a few years ago.” The father of three had just tucked his children in for the night and sat down to watch television.
Angelie’s Secret told the poignant, true story of a 10-year-old girl with the virus and her experiences at Camp Heartland, an AIDS camp for kids based in Milwaukee. “I thought to myself, what have I done to help anybody lately? I called the camp and told them I wanted to do a poster, with all money going to the kids. We did a launch in New York in March, 1996,” said Waugh, whose art can be found in corporate and private collections the world over.
“Hero is a vibrant, colorful, abstract interpretation of two figures - an adult comforting a child.” Then Waugh says he “came up with this crazy idea.” He thumbed through the Guinness Book of World Records, and discovered that if he wanted the world title, he would have to create a painting spanning a minimum of 80,000 square feet. He decided to paint Hero to scale, using five-foot by five-foot panels. Waugh got to work in earnest, and in June launched the first instalment of his creation at the Dollard municipal arena. At the time, it measured 3,600 square feet.
Not one who believes in half-measures, Waugh linked up with Roger Peace of Carosales Entertainment. The grand unveiling of the completed painting will be held June 20, 1998, AIDS Compassion Day, at no less a prestigious venue than the Los Angeles Coliseum. They’re hoping to bring in a series of well-known performers, “with the focus on young talent,” Waugh said. It has been all but confirmed that 16-year-old blues-rock guitar sensation Johnny Lang will be there. “I met him in Minneapolis at an AIDS benefit he was doing there and he was pretty receptive to the idea.”
They’re hoping to raise a minimum of $4 million, which he calls a “realistic figure, all things considered.” Funds will be divided between Camp Heartland and Camp Oasis in Oakville. Half of the young campers are infected with AIDS, while the other 50 per cent are from families living with the illness, who may have lost a sibling or parent to the disease.
This week, CHOM FM, in conjunction with HMV, began running promotions for a 5’ x 9’ painting of three dancing figures, which Waugh has donated toward the cause. “It’s in the HMV store window on Ste.Catherine St., and up until the 15th, people will be asked to come in and place a bid (the value is estimated at $9,000). The top bidder will win a trip to New York and tickets to the Rosie O’Donnell Show. The funds raised will go to the AIDS centre for children’s programs at McGill University and to Camp Oasis.”
Waugh took a bit of a break this summer, but this week went back into the studio to face the task at hand. On Aug. 18, at a major press conference at McGill, the work-in-progress will be publicly displayed, and Waugh plans to have completed more than 10,000 square feet of his mega-project by then.
