BCBUSINESS.CA APRIL 2017 BCBUSINESS 31
L I F E S T O RY: At 15, Christina
Sumie Hirukawa sold her first water-
colour for $150, to her math teacher
at West Vancouver's Rockridge
middle school. Thinking she'd found
her calling, she began making and
selling mixed-media works, which
helped fund her tuition and art
supplies for a
BFA in painting and
drawing at Concordia University in
Montreal. In 2009, at the end of her
fourth year, Japanese-born Hirukawa
was hit by a car. During her recovery,
she became interested in art criti-
cism and writing. After completing
an MA in art history at the University
of Glasgow, Hirukawa became a
certified art appraiser in 2012, then
returned home, where she ran fund-
raising auctions at North Vancouver's
Presentation House Gallery. In 2014
she launched an art consultancy
based on charging an hourly retainer
instead of sales commissions, both to
increase artists' profits and to clarify
the cost of her services to clients.
T H E B O T T O M L I N E : Hirukawa
has appraised, valued and sold
more than $5 million worth of art
worldwide. She is working with
Microsoft Vancouver Inc. and eight
other corporations to develop collec-
tions, special projects and events.
Hirukawa is also associate director
of the Portfolio Prize, founded by
notable Vancouver artists to support
emerging talent; adviser on the
FarmBoy Fine Arts fund, which leases
museum-quality artworks to high-end
hospitality and corporate spaces;
director of development at The Next
Big Thing incubator program, founded
by Hootsuite Media Inc.
CEO Ryan
Holmes; and a mentor to fellow
30 Under 30 winner Tara Bosch
through Futurpreneur Canada, which
supports young entrepreneurs. —F.S.
C H R I S T I N A
S U M I E
H I R U K AWA
Art adviser and consultant
OCTOBER INVENTORY
A G E : 2 9
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