Better by the dozen are donuts in a box and roses in a vase, chocolate chip cookies on a platter and 5×7 original canvases on the walls of artCentral! What can be better than a dozen? Another dozen or two!
This year’s SMALL WORKS | GREAT WONDERS Silent Auction Fundraiser, underwritten by Old Missouri Bank, has not just one, not just two but four dozen original, pocket-friendly 5×7 artworks created and donated by 48 talented artCentral artists to support artCentral’s mission to promote, exhibit, teach and foster the appreciation of fine art in our community.
When you walk through artCentral’s green door of hospitality you will see before you 5×7 creations ringing around the foyer walls and on around the front gallery walls, too, creating a necklace of brilliant jewels for your viewing and bidding and choosing. A few three dimensional creations are displayed on the Hyde House credenza. The works of two ever popular artists are displayed on a large pedestal.
Most opening bids begin at $10.00 and bidding continues with raises in increments of $5.00 or more. Accompanying each 5×7 is a bid sheet with the artist’s name, the title of the artwork, the opening bid and the amount for raising a bid.
Andy Thomas, an artCentral artist and hometown hero, a Carthaginian through and through who happens to be an art world celebrity, is among the artCentral artists who are donating their immense talents and doing their part to raise funds to support artCentral’s good work for the love of art and artists. This year once again I approached Andy, our always in-demand, hard-working local hero to ask, “Please, will you paint a 5×7 canvas to contribute to artCentral’s annual fundraising Silent Auction?” Once again, after our rambling art-centric conversation enjoyed sitting on his porch, his generous response came with a smile wafting on an end-of-summer breeze, “Yes!” Having Andy’s exciting and incredibly generous donation in Hyde House is a dream come true for artCentral and can be a dream come true for you, too! Make your bid or buy now and this stunning original will be yours to begin or add to your Andy Thomas collection. “Rough Ride”, rendered in oil, has an opening bid of $500. Raises are by $50.00. The “buy now” is $2,900.00. All proceeds go to artCentral’s GIVE4ART fund!
Selections with a “buy now” bid allow you to make a bid that closes out that stream of bidding and guarantees that artwork will be yours while bidding continues on other works. For instance, on the Auction’s opening night, Andrew Batcheller’s “Pink as a Promise”, an oil with delicately painted rainbow-colored butterfly wings above an azure ocean, began with an opening bid of $50 and a “buy now” of $200. By the end of the Opening evening the bid on Andrew’s was $80. The following day I received a phone call and accepted a patron’s credit card purchase for $200 to close out the bidding on this piece and guarantee “Pink as a Promise” will go to this happy patron.
You may also view all 48 SMALL WORKS | GREAT WONDERS, make bids, raise bids and buy works online. Just visit artCentral’s media platforms at www.artcentralcarthage.org and on Facebook at ArtcentralCarthage. Once you select the works for which you want to place bids, just give me a call at 417-358-4404 or send your bid by email to [email protected].
The SMALL WORKS | GREAT WONDERS Silent Auction will continue through the Closing Celebration on Saturday, December 4, 6:00-8:00 p.m. The Silent Auction bidding ends at 7:00 p.m.
To see, bid on and buy your favorite SMALL WORKS | GREAT WONDERS, visit Hyde House at 1110 East Thirteenth in Carthage through December 4. Weekend Gallery Hours are Fridays and Saturdays from 12:00 to 5:00 p.m. with CDC protocols practiced at artCentral. Face masks and social distancing are required for everyone entering Hyde House. Please help us keep each other safe and healthy.
While you shop the pocket-friendly SMALL WORKS be sure to spend time with “p-i-e-c-e-d TOGETHER”—the extraordinary mixed exhibition by Lori Marble and Jo Mueller also showing in Hyde House and online through December 4.
Again this year as a favorite fundraiser, artCentral’s signature limited edition Scarlet Amaryllis from Amsterdam are being cultivated to bloom for the holidays. Preorder yours today! At $25.00 each in a crimson planter with an elegant bow, they are perfect for decorating and gifting. Like roses and 5×7 canvases, they, too, can be even better by the dozen!
