Salah Bachir makes every moment matter.
Salah is a philanthropist, a patron of the arts, a gifted entrepreneur and a Chancellor of OCAD, a renowned learning institution for Art and Design. Salah's life experiences are as lavish and eclectic as his art collection, a body of work that almost any museum would covet. He once wrapped Christmas gifts in Andy Warhol sketches, before Andy was Andy. Only one survived and that sketch is now worth over $100,000. I have known Salah for years, and I consider him an old soul, a wizard of mastering complexity, armed with a twinkle in his eye, a purposeful stride. Salah listens generously and responds intelligently.
Born in Lebanon, Salah Bachir immigrated to Canada at age 10. Salah learned English watching Batman, and began his lifelong pursuits of activism and philanthropy by launching a grape boycott at his local grocery store, where he raised $150 in support of Caesar Chavez and farmworkers. Salah learned an essential lesson from Chavez that day of the importance of personalizing the ask to make giving matter. This lesson has enabled Salah to has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for causes and charities that include the LGBTQ community, healthcare, and the arts.
Salah is an incredible story of an immigrant who built a media empire, who hung with Andy Warhol, Elizabeth Taylor, and so many more, and who realizes, since a young kid, that life isn't for the taking, it's for the giving.
Jacquie Sestito, Director of Brand Marketing for RBC joins the show to talk about why art matters and what we can all do to support Canadian artists.
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