Justin Trudeau's sketch of Winnipeg museum to be auctioned off
Prime minister's colourful drawing of Canadian Museum for Human Rights to be sold in February
It appears Canada's prime minister can draw, and quite well at that.
"I had no idea he had any visual arts skills," said Gail Asper, president of the Asper Foundation and a board member with both the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and the museum's foundation.
Asper is organizing an auction of a sketch of the museum that Justin Trudeau drew in March 2015.
"He was clearly very inspired by what he saw, so he actually drew a lovely picture of the museum," she said.
Asper said she first heard about Trudeau's artwork when it was used on postcards for Liberal Party of Canada fundraising.
In the summer, she asked the Liberal leader if Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights could have his piece for a fundraiser.
When it arrived soon after, Asper admitted she was surprised how good it was.
"It's extremely accurate, very sharp, and bright," she said.
"It's a beautiful painting of the museum."
Trudeau's drawing was appraised at $2,000 but Asper says she hopes to sell it for $10,000. The money would go into funding the Canadian Museum for Human Rights' temporary gallery and paying for students across Canada to come visit the museum.
Trudeau's sketch is set to be auctioned on eBay in February.
"I can guarantee there's nothing like it. There probably never will be anything like it," said Asper.
"To have a sitting prime minister who is passionate about freedom and human rights, who has visited the museum a few times now — to have something like this is really very special."