Macdonald Stewart Art Centre raises $67,000 Gala Fundraiser event a success Rebecca Benson
"We do quite commonly get the question, how can I go about submitting a package to the art center? A package consists generally of an artist's statement, a covering letter, and 10 images of a succinct body of work. That would then lead to it being passed along to Judy and Judy takes a look at it and decides." Judy Nasby.
Last Saturday night, the Macdonald Stewart Art Center hosted their annual "Beyond the Frame" Art Auction, and on the night of the auction not even the co-ordinators knew how successful they would be. $67,000 in net profit later, they are thrilled with the outcome, a $12,000 increase from last year's profit. Having been at the event myself, I can attest to the fact that there was no evidence of a recession in the auction room. It could have been the lure of a round of applause a bidder received once they raised their bid to $1000, or the obvious adoration that people felt for several artists in particular, the increase in the number of auction items, or perhaps even the auctioneer Jay Mandarino's bowtie with attached flashing lights; either way the fundraising aspect of the auction was a definite success.
Everyone seemed happy to be at the auction, and happier to be bidding. Attendees had the chance to look at the pieces up for live auction, and to bid in the silent auction. Students from a local high school, Centennial C.I., donated cloth tapestries, contributing to the event. Once the live auction commenced, I was surprised at how quickly the time flew. Before I knew it, the few pieces that I had been eyeing, including a charming encaustic, collage piece by Andrea Bird, were up for auction and gone to the highest bidder. Items ranged in medium, and artistic direction, from traditional oil on canvas landscape paintings like Linda O'Neil's "Confluence," to Elora artist John Kissick's colourful quilt-like oil and acrylic piece entitled "I Feel Better (Than James Brown)," to a magnificent bronze sculpture of a telephone by the great Canadian artist Michael Snow. There were four artists in particular who drove prices higher than expected. Guelph's Will Gorlitz sold "Aspen Leaves" for $6,000. The painting is an abstract piece featuring a trickling light blue brook, distinguishable from the richly hued dark background, speckled with four bright yellow autumn leaves. John Kissick's piece sold for $4,250, while Guelph artist Cheryl Ruddock's "Northern Flower, Yukn," features a delicate, fragile, white bloomed flower with a butter-yellow guache background and sold for $3,250. A further two notables include Guelph artist Don Russell who sold a charcoal and wax drawing for $2,750, and Guelph University's own print making professor Stu Oxley's "Untitled", 2006, a monoprint that sold for $1,900. Other items up for auction included a distinguished list of wines, illustrated copies of books such as Margaret Atwood's "The Door Poems," a white pine bowl by Doug Johnstone, and Raptors tickets. The live auction was lively and good spirited, a truly engaging event to witness.
Throughout the entire evening, the calm, cool, and very collected face of Aidan Ware, Education Coordinator for the center, did not betray the amount of work that she had put into the evening. She revealed that planning for the event begins in the spring, culminates in the November auction, and is not truly finished until January. She stated, "It's a year long process for me at this point. There's everything from coordinating caterers, and getting corporate sponsorship, to asking people, and curating the show. Judy Nasby does the curating of the show, and asks artists if they'd like to donate a work to the auction. So it gives it that sort of weight that it's an exhibition as well as being a fundraiser for the art center." The works for the auction were on display from Sept. 23 to Nov. 14. For the sake of the struggling artists of the Guelph student body, I had to ask her advice in regards to how an artist goes about participating in an exhibition at a recognized instituation such as the Macdonald Stewart Art Center.
"We do quite commonly get the question, how can I go about submitting a package to the art center? A package consists generally of an artist's statement, a covering letter, and 10 images of a succinct body of work. That would then lead to it being passed along to Judy and Judy takes a look at it and decides." said Nasby.
When I inquired about the challenges of organizing an event as sizeable as "Beyond the Frame," I realized how multi-faceted the process of co-ordinating and fundraising for a large event in any organization could be. "There are many challenges along the way, the main things are with fundraising and getting corporate sponsorship, especially in a year like this one economically. That really is a huge challenge, and my part in that is to try and foster those relationships, bring them along, encourage them, so that when we do ask [corporate sponsors] to support the auction they know what we do here, they love what we do , and they're already involved with us."
I recommend that Guelph student's check the center's visiting hours, and take a detour next time they're waiting for the bus at the bear. The Macdonald Steward Art Center is a definite resource, and possible source of rainy day escape. I can't wait to see what goes up for auction next year!
Comments posted here do not necessarrily reflect the views of The Ontarion or its staff and affiliates.