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Penny Smash Vancouver - 2 of 4 artists: Ian Grais

Vancouver Is Awesome is co-presenting an arts initiative in Vancouver called Penny Smash! Todd Falkowsky (of Citizen Brand and The Canadian Design Resource), Scott Hawthorn (of Salt Tasting Room, Native Shoes and Picker Shack Orchard), designer Tyler

Penny Smash

Vancouver Is Awesome is co-presenting an arts initiative in Vancouver called Penny Smash! Todd Falkowsky (of Citizen Brand and The Canadian Design Resource), Scott Hawthorn (of Salt Tasting Room, Native Shoes and Picker Shack Orchard), designer Tyler Quarles and I have been working for the past few months on producing a Vancouver pilot for a project that Todd launched in Toronto a couple of years back. The idea behind PENNY SMASH is to take a souvenir penny press machine (like the ones you see inside tourist attractions - like THIS) and hijack it to produce truly affordable works of art. ALL of the proceeds go either to charity or grants to artists to launch other creative projects in the city.

The first Penny Smash Vancouver machine launches this coming Friday, November 4th at FUSE at the Vancouver Art Gallery and for just $2.01 (on top of your admission to FUSE) you'll be able purchase work from the machine by some of Vancouver's favourite visual artists including Ken Lum, Ian Grais, Jerszy Seymour and Natalie Purschwitz. Yesterday I SHOWED you Ken Lum's "Monument for East Vancouver" design. Second up is Ian Grais and his "Vision Token" penny!

Ian Grais Rethink

"A reminder that you have the power within to make your wishes come true."

Ian is co-founder and Creative Director of Rethink, one of Canada's brightest creative agencies. Ian has been ranked the number one art director in the country for the past decade. Working across a broad spectrum of disciplines, his influence can be witnessed in art, design, interactive and advertising. With this penny, Ian reminds us all that we are the masters of our own destiny.

rethinkcanada.com

DON'T MISS THE UNVEILING OF THE PENNY SMASH MACHINE IN VANCOUVER NOVEMBER 4TH!: CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS TO FUSE