The Manitoba Schizophrenic Society held its annual gala evening on April 12th at the Fairmont hotel at which representatives of the government, corporations and community leaders attended and brought greetings. The Iris Gala includes cocktails, a full course meal complete with wine and award presentations followed by silent auctions of donated items. The evening winds down with the sounds of Winnipeg’s institutional Ron Paley Band.
The MSS chose iris this symbol hope and valour as its symbol of those suffering from mental illness following the historic sale of “Les Irises” by Vincent van Gogh, which went for more than $50 million in 1987. Van Gogh painted Les Irises in the asylum garden at St. Remy in the south of France in May 1889 at a time when van Gogh was said to have in the midst of a psychosis.
Winnipeg’s singer/songwriter, Maiko Watson, performed with Ron Paley at this event