Splash

About the Event
Splash, presented by Nicola Wealth, is Arts Umbrella’s annual art auction with proceeds benefiting young people across Metro Vancouver in the visual and performing arts. Splash will be held at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and feature evening entertainment, elegant food & cocktails, student performances and culminate in the spectacular Live Auction. The art auction and evening entertainment will be broadcast live from the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver and guests can join from anywhere across Canada and beyond.
Gala ticket and table sales will open in Summer 2023.
Saturday, October 21, 2023
Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
6PM PT / 9PM ET
If you are interested in sponsoring this event, please contact Chantelle Walper at cwalper@artsumbrella.com to receive a package outlining all sponsorship benefits and details.
For all event updates and details, please follow us on Instagram at @au_splash.


Limited Edition Douglas Coupland Print
Renowned visual artist and author Douglas Coupland has generously created a new, limited edition print, Space Face (Ruth), 2022, in an edition of 40 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Splash. The subject of the portrait, Ruth, is a dance student at Arts Umbrella. The funds raised from this generous gift will significantly increase our capacity to serve children and youth through arts education.
About the piece, from Douglas Coupland:
The image I’ve created here for Splash stems from a body of work I began around 2014 which sought to determine the parameters of how much of a face could be left visible before that face became no longer recognizable by AI recognition systems. Looking back at many of those pieces, I’m amazed by how much I underestimated the speed and power of facial recognition’s approach. These days a good system can pretty much identify you by a square inch of cheekbone or by chin/earlobe/hairline proportions. I’d like to thank Ruth for ‘posing’ for this portrait as it were, and I’m curious if, in one hundred years the world can determine her identity through, say just a few pixels of this image. I wouldn’t be surprised.
Space Face (Ruth), 2022
Inkjet Print
29 × 24 in, framed | Edition of 40
Generously donated by the Artist
Courtesy of Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto
Price: $4,300 (includes a $500 tax receiptable donation, plus applicable taxes)
Committee Members
Co-Chairs: Christie Garofalo and Bruce Munro Wright, O.B.C.
Vancouver Committee: Heather Altas, Jan Ballard, Brenda Bradshaw, Blaire Chisholm, Meagan Conn, Kimberly Cudney, Rachel Davies, Celia Dawson, Daniel Frankel, Mark Goodman, Brittany Grant, Harriet Guadagnuolo, Jammay Louie, Monique Mehl, Alison Meredith, Coleen Nemtin, Brent O’Connor, Josh Pekarsky, Natasha Ross, Ruthie Shugarman, Beverley Steinhoff, Tassan Sung, Trudy Van Dop, Timothy A. Young
Calgary Committee: Chethan Lakshman, Michael Simmonds
Toronto Committee: Mary Jo Looby, Danielle Skipp, Steven Wilson
