The “Power of Portrait – We are all in this together, Vancouver” is a citizen-led initiative to reclaim boarded-up storefronts as canvases to share stories of resilience and reinforce community connection, through portraits of Vancouverites. The project was initiated by Andrea McLaren, a local clinical counsellor who was concerned about the psychological impact of social distancing and of the boarded-up businesses in our community during this time. She brought on Jai Djwa, a digital media artist, to help with the idea and build the website. We added Hanif, Kris, John and Kimiko to help!
Our Team
Andrea McLaren – project manager
Andrea is a community volunteer, and artist that has been working to better our city. She works in private practice as a counsellor and consultant.
Jai Djwa – artist/ web developer
Jai is an artist, digital technologist and worked as composer for theatre and dance for many years. He is a board member of the BC Arts Council and the Vancouver Fringe.
Hanif Janmohamed – designer
Hanif is a thoughtful and engaging designer that has worked with clients as varied as Gehry Partners, Walt Disney, and SFU.
John Goldsmith – Photographer / Creative Consultant
John is a visual artist, fine art printer, and image consultant. His artwork has been exhibited in international art festivals and as public art.
Kimiko Karpoff – Photographer
Kimiko is a community involved writer, photographer and energy healing practitioner called into the world through her heart as a diaconal minister.
Special thanks to Serena PR, Kris Krüg, Teri Smith, John McLaren, Mark Smith and Ian Livingstone
News Stories
Media
Get in touch through our form below or call 778-772-3592.
Get in touch
Need to get in touch about anything related to the project? We’ll get back in touch as soon as we can.