ART

An American insurance firm, Manufacturers’ Life, has paid $750,000 to show some larger-than-life Canadian artworks--on billboards in Toronto. The show, which remains unveiled through the end of the year, features works by Mary Pratt, Frances Pocock James, Lynn Donaghue Jack Shadbolt and Gathie Falk. The idea of the billboard gallery originated with James, an artist/entrepreneur. “People should know who these artists are,” said James, who made her mark in the business world in 1981 as manager of a house-painting company during her final year at the University of Victoria.