A GoFundMe has been organized for well-known Peterborough artist Peer Christensen, who is fighting brain cancer.
According to organizer Colleen Volpel, Peer has been diagnosed with type four glioblastoma — the same highly aggressive and malignant brain tumour that took the life of The Tragically Hip’s frontman Gord Downie in 2017.
“Now, as Peer recovers from surgery and receives treatment to try and slow this cancer, the Christensens had to make a hard decision to close their business and focus on their family and time together,” Volpel writes.
Vopel adds that Peer and his wife Lori will be in Kingston for weeks at a time to receive chemotherapy and radiation treatments at the Queen’s Brain Tumor Program at Kingston General Hospital.
“We are appealing to the community to raise funds to cover their costs of accommodation during their stays there,” Volpel writes. “We want them to be able to focus on the battles ahead, and not have to worry about the cost involved in travelling.”
To donate to the GoFundMe, visit www.gofundme.com/f/together-for-peer. As of the date of this story, over $7,000 has been raised of the $10,000 goal.
Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, Peer moved to Canada in 1959 as a child and has lived in Peterborough since 1985.
For more than 35 years, he has maintained an active studio practice working in the medium of oil paint, with his work exhibited at the Art Gallery of Peterborough, John B. Aird Gallery, McMichael Canadian Collection, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, and many others.
He has also been involved in the gallery and picture framing business for over 40 years, establishing his first Peterborough business in 1985 with two subsequent locations.
