64 BCBusiness dECEMBER/JAnuARy 2018 liOnEl TRudEl
WEEKEND WARRIoR
about 35 years ago, I had
been the marketing man-
ager for Salomon, the ski
binding and ski boots
company. I went to an
organization known
as Montreal Creative
Centre, in its day the cut-
ting edge for creative and
design work for advertis-
ing in Canada, and said,
"I'd like to work for you
guys and learn about
creative conceptual work
and advertising design."
A team of over 125 very
gifted artists did adver-
tising creative work dur-
ing the day but would do
-ne art at home at night.
I wasn't really buying art
in those days, but I was
getting to understand
and appreciate it.
In 1983, I ended up
in Calgary at a company
called Sunice, one of the
biggest apparel brands
in the country. At that
same time I bought a very
old warehouse complex
in Calgary and turned it
into a business arts and
creative centre, incubat-
ing a lot of small creative
businesses.
One of them was
iStockphoto—I was the
angel investor for that
company. There were
also a lot of artists that
used the building. When
I got to know an artist,
I wanted to have some-
thing of their work, and
so I started to collect.
I used to go to gradu-
ating classes for the
Alberta College of Art
and Design, the Emily
Carr Institute, other
places like that. If I saw
a young artist that had
some real potential, I
would say, "If you're
having a show or doing
something, let me know.
I'd love to see what
you're working on." I
made a conscious e‹ort
to try and pick up at least
a couple of new pieces
of art every year. Even
if I wasn't making much
money, I would put a
little bit aside.
My budgets have
grown over the years,
and I continue to acquire
more pieces. I did pretty
much all the design work
for the gallery at Liquidity
with the intention that it
would be a place where
I could show some of my
art to the public.
—as told to Felicity Stone
This interview has been edited
and condensed
THE FINER THINGS
some of macDonald's
more than 80 art pieces are
displayed at his winery
in 2008, when former Montrealer ian MacDonald bought
a 30-acre vineyard in Okanagan Falls with two partners, he was still actively involved
with Moving Products inc., a company that has provided uniforms for personnel at every
Olympics since. MacDonald left in 2012 to launch liquidity Wines ltd., which produced
5,600 cases of wine in 2017 from estate-grown grapes and includes a bistro and gallery.
WARRIoR SPoTlIgHT
Collected
Works
Liquidity Wines
president Ian
MacDonald
learned about
art on the job
Acro Accounting
& Bookkeeping Inc.
