June Rogers

It’s a cold snowy morning in Fairbanks, AK. Volunteer ushers are gathered in the lobby of Hering Auditorium, anticipating the arrival of 1300 students who will be attending a performance.

One of the volunteers, local artist Carol Hilgemann, knowing that I would be interested, brought a copy of an article dealing with considerations that art auctions create for artists. A lively discussion about the value of art auctions occupied the group until interrupted by the arrival of our audience.

Fairbanks Arts Association began the movement of the auctioning of art in our community – and the event was successful. Success begets success. Other organizations began to auction art at fundraisers. Art auctions were everywhere.

After reading the article and hearing Carol’s thoughts, I contacted other artists about their feelings on the subject. Reactions to auctions are as varied as there are artists. Some events are better at giving exposure to artists, but a good number of artists have told me they feel they’re making a poor decision when donating to an auction.

Many felt – even if they wanted to – they weren’t able to contribute to the dozens of requests received each year. Contributing items of lesser value or prints sometimes answered their dilemma – a pattern that was becoming obvious as we received more prints and less original artwork for FAA’s annual fundraiser. The auction then required more items and more administration to catalogue the items – a spiral that didn’t prove well for the artist or the event. It was time for a change.

Click! An idea!

A call to Alaska Bowl Company, explaining my idea of how to change our auction, resulted in a resounding yes – 25 wooden bowls were contributed and then given to artists with a request to make an art-piece that could be auctioned. The fundraising event would still have an art auction and the items would be originals by local artists, BUT the piece would not devalue the marketing of the artist’s regular work.

Artists outdid themselves. Bowls were carved, painted, quilted, cut, and reassembled. Each piece was unique and each was the work of sought-after-artists, whose works in galleries were not being devalued by sale of the auction piece. Quite the reverse – artists were being discovered by a new audience and their gallery sales were enhanced.

The idea, now in it’s 13th year, has continued successfully with each event featuring a different object: shoes, restaurant platters, books, hard hats, tote bags, and metal hardware cloth. The resulting artwork is a delightful surprise and the annual event is one our most popular fundraisers.

Contributing businesses receive extra benefit by hosting a pre-auction art exhibit one week prior to the fundraiser, where they receive public recognition of their participation. Many times a photo with an accompanying article has been on the front page of the newspaper or on the local evening news.

Artists are able to participate in a positive way to support an organization they believe in without sacrificing the sale of their studio inventory. Carol, who has participated in several of the “featured item” auctions, commented:

“Artists are in the unique position of being asked frequently to donate the product of their skill, knowledge and expertise to nonprofit organizations for fund raising events. This idea has eliminated the exploitation of an artist’s customary artwork being sold at bargain prices.”

Marketing artwork is challenging and a strong community of artists is not happenstance. Being aware that art sold at charity auctions depletes marketing possibilities at studios and galleries, Fairbanks Arts Association has committed to supporting a healthy arts community and has met the auction issue through an innovative approach.