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Cassidy Glaseman was born creative. As a child she loved to write and explore nature. But more than anything, she was a gentle soul whose head was often in the clouds.

At just 23, she tragically passed away from injuries sustained in a car accident on December 16, 2019. For her family, mother Lori and stepfather Lee, father Murray, and sisters Whitney and Jolee, the loss was devastating. They were left with a need to honour Cassidy, an aspiring artist with an easy laugh and big heart.

Before her untimely death, Cassidy had been working on her portfolio to apply to study at Emily Carr. She shared a passion for photography with her mother who is also a photographer, as well as painting and sketching. It was Lori’s brother who came up with the idea of creating an award in Cassidy’s name that would support other aspiring artists.

According to her artist friend Nadine, painting was how Cassidy expressed herself. “I knew her art. I can point to her brushstrokes, the colours she used, the things she couldn’t resist putting on paper and say, do you see what I mean? Can you feel how I feel now?”

Her boyfriend Nick agrees. “She was able to take simple concepts and subvert them or add layers upon layers. In my eyes she could literally cast magic; art would appear out of thin air. It was something I hold very close to my heart.” His most treasured memory of Cassidy was the day they met face-to-face; it was love at first sight for both of them.

Whitney shared one of her last conversations with her sister and best friend. “She loved the sky, she always painted the sky, contemplated the sky, the moon and the clouds especially. The Sunday before [the accident], she had a doctor’s appointment and she didn’t want to take her socks off. Her doctor told her in her culture they walk barefoot outside to be grounded, and Cassidy said this just seemed foreign to her. When I saw her two days later in the hospital, I was reminded when I saw her feet - she had a spaceship tattooed on one foot, and a moon on the other.”

When asked about Cassidy’s legacy, Lori, Whitney and Jolee agree: her legacy was love. She knew how to love deeply, how to express it, shared it freely, and had a way of making everyone feel important and heard.

When Cassidy’s bursary is first awarded next spring, it will be an expression of love from her family given freely to another aspiring artist, and a way to honour Cassidy and her work.

Learn more about Cassidy, please visit the website.

If you would like to know more about establishing an award, contact Eva Bouchard, Manager, Major Gifts + Fund Development at 604 630 4553.