Style Spotlight: Sold!
- “Isla” by Cristina Cordova. Credit: Steve Mann
Pittsburgh Glass Center’s annual Art on Fire Celebration & Auction Sept. 23 raised $110,000 to benefit its educational programs and exhibitions. More than 400 people snacked on sorbet, milkshakes, pizza, tacos and barbecue during the live and silent auctions. The live auction brought $7,900 for Dante Marioni’s reticello acorn.
The Houston Center for Contemporary Craft celebrated its 10th birthday Sept. 22 with a Martini Madness! party. A silent auction before the party and an auction during the event raised more than $28,000. Every guest chose a handmade martini glass for the evening and was encouraged to dress up in mid-century cocktail attire. Special guest Dyna Moe, illustrator of Mad Men: The Illustrated World, flew in from New York to present awards to the best dressed. Proceeds from the event are to benefit the center.
The highest bid at the Anderson Ranch Arts Center’s 31st Annual Auction Aug. 13 was for a mixed-media work by Chicago artist Theaster Gates, at $39,000. The event attracted nearly 200 people to the facility in Snowmass Village, Colo. There were 260 pieces in the live and silent auctions, which raised more than $500,000. The auction funds classes, residencies, lecturers, visiting artists, guest critics and scholarships.
The Penland School of Crafts 26th Annual Benefit Auction broke records for the western North Carolina school: highest attendance, with more than 600 people; and highest net income, at $456,405. The Fund-A-Need project raised $84,100 for a new house for Penland’s core fellows. More than 250 current and former Penland instructors, resident artists and core fellows contributed more than 240 works in all mediums for auction. Top-selling pieces were “Isla,” by ceramic sculptor Cristina Cordova, at $30,000; “The Four Seasons,” by glass/video artists Tim Tate, at $25,000; and “Two Objects,” by glass sculptor Daniel Clayman, at $13,000. Penland also honored Fred Fenster, metalsmith and professor emeritus from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as 2011 Outstanding Artist Educator.
