Media Alert (Event/Photo Op) - Art Show Celebrates Beauty of Mental Illness

    Touched By Fire Showcases Work of Artists with Mood Disorders

    TORONTO, Oct. 30 /CNW/ - The Touched By Fire art show and sale, the
annual showcase of works by artists with mood disorders, is taking place at
Toronto's Gladstone Hotel on November 14 and 15, 2008, and online all year at
www.touchedbyfire.ca.
    The show opens with a gala reception for more than 300 invited guests.
Open to news media on request, it offers photo ops, stunning visuals,
interviews and countless stories of inspiration and human interest.WHEN & WHERE

    Friday and Saturday, November 14-15,
    12:00 - 9:00 p.m.

    Gladstone Hotel
    1214 Queen Street West
    [phone]

    The gala takes place on Thursday, November 13, starting at 7:30 for
invited guests only. News media can request invitations from the media
contacts below.

    PHOTO OPS, NEWS VALUE AND OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

    -   367 works by over 275 artists with depression, bipolar disorder or
        other mood disorders.

    -   45 works on display at the Gladstone, and all works mounted in the
        online gallery at www.touchedbyfire.ca.

    -   Presented by international Financial Services leader Raymond James
        and the Mood Disorders Association of Ontario (MDAO).

    -   A tribute to the memory of Rebecca Burghardt, a talented young artist
        who ended a lifelong battle with severe bipolar disorder by taking
        her own life in 2005.

    -   An incredible 60% of last year`s artwork sold at the show itself.

    -   Powerful illustration of the mood disorders so often facing talented
        artists, reinforcing recent news stories on Brian Wilson,
        Lucy Maude Montgomery and others.

    -   Combining arts and mental health awareness, two issues that Canadians
        have recently made clear are of vital importance.

For further information: or to register for the gala, please contact:
Michael Corcoran, CCR Partners, [phone], [e-mail]; Karen
Liberman, MDAO, 1-888-486-8236, ext 226, [e-mail]; Peter
Kahnert, Raymond James, [phone], [e-mail]