2008 Woodie Awards
New exhibit goes off the wall
STEVE AHLBORN
Culture Writer
Issue date: 3/12/07 Section: Culture
| |
|
donated business space on Idaho Street in downtown Boise Saturday and Sunday.
Community members from around the Treasure Valley donated art and other furnishings to the museum to be sold at this event.
Melanie Fales, the interim executive director of the Boise Art Museum, said she was pleased with the response of the community to donate items to the event and was not surprised at all with the amount of support from citizens who showed up to buy art.
She went on to say that marketing for this fundraiser went well this year and the open spaces on the wall are a good sign.
The last time the Boise Art Museum had an event like this was in 2003.
At that time the only items for sale were two dimensional paintings and posters. In planning for this event, the leaders decided to add three-dimensional art, such as furniture, jewelry, pottery, crystal, wooden masks, records, books and even greeting cards.
The goal of the “Off the Wall” event was to raise $10,000 after expenses which will all benefit the Boise Art Museum for its exhibitions, educational programs and general operations. The generous sponsors of the event had already taken care of almost all of the basic expenses for the event itself.
As patrons of the event first stepped through the double doors they were greeted by one of the many volunteers that wanted to support the arts by donating their time to serving the cause.
The room looked similar to a warehouse, with a high ceiling, long walls and old, faded blue carpet.
Paintings adorned the all of the walls of this large room.
Ladders stood still by the art for volunteers to help those wanting to purchase the art hanging high on the walls.
Tables were lightly scattered with everything from jewelry and crystals to books and greeting cards.
There did not seem to be a focal point of the room. Nothing stood out to distinguish the main attraction from everything else.
Fales said that this was like a “treasure hunt.” The lower-priced items were mingled with the higher priced items and people could sort through the mix.
Two pictures, drawn by Ian Johnson, were down the center aisle toward the front of the room. The first drawing, being auctioned with the starting bid of $2,500, depicted the “Statue of Liberty” play, which gave the Boise State Broncos football team the 43-42 win in the Fiesta Bowl against the Oklahoma Sooners on Jan. 1.
The other drawing, with a starting bid of $2,000, was a rendering of a football with a Nike emblem on the front.
If these two were sold at their minimum bid, they would make up almost half of the fundraising goal.
All together, the Boise Art Museum put on a tremendous event that was not only successful to raise money, but also to raise awareness of the arts and show great support from the community.
The Boise Art Museum would like to thank the community for donating items, the volunteers who donated time and the sponsors who donated money.
All of these people helped to ensure the success of this event.
Be the first to comment on this story