Jazz Art Auction a Major Success!
The Guelph Jazz Festival's Sounds Provocative Art Auction was abuzz last weekend at The Holiday Inn Guelph Hotel & Conference Centre as art lovers bid on over 50 works created by some of the region's best-known contributing artists. The 8th annual event and chief fundraiser for the festival hosted a live and silent auction on Sunday April 21st, estimated to have raised nearly $35,000. The funds generated will contribute to this year's festival, its 20th Anniversary.
The auction attracted approximately 200 art enthusiasts and Guelph Jazz Festival supporters, including Liberal MPP for Guelph and Minister of Education for Ontario, Liz Sandals. Ms. Sandals first delighted the live auction audience with the announcement of a Celebrate Ontario grant for the Guelph Jazz Festival's 2013 season. Then, switching hats to Celebrity Auctioneer, Ms. Sandals proceeded to expertly solicit and field bids from the floor for the Sarah Walterhouse etching with chine-collé.
Organizers attribute the auction's success to the spectrum of diverse artistic styles and mediums from established and emerging artists in the live auction collection curated by art consultant Renann Isaacs. Notable artists who donated their work included Will Gorlitz, Christian McLeod and Cheryl Ruddock. Susan Dobson's C-Print entitled End of the Line, commanded the highest single piece price selling for $5000.
The live auction portion of the event was Emcee'd by Robert Enright, the University Research Chair in Art Theory and Criticism in SOFAM at the University of Guelph. Professor Enright is the Senior Contributing Editor for Border Crossings magazine and received The Order of Canada in 2005. Guests and artists alike commented on the quality and insight of the commentary delivered by Professor Enright during the live auction.
A key auction piece entitled King Bass, a collaborative initiative between Nick Craine, a Guelph Illustrator, and Tom King, author of The Inconvenient Indian, will graphically represent the Festival's 20th season. Says Craine, "I loved the challenge of representing sound/music in the static and silent medium of illustration. The expressive hands in Tom's body of (photographic) work offer a lot of wonderful visual opportunities. In some ways the process of creating this piece was the most improv-like jam session I've ever been involved in."
The event is key to raising funds for the Guelph Jazz Festival that will contribute to the longevity of the Festival in the city. "The turn-out and success of the art auction truly indicates that there significant community support for the Festival which means a lot to us as we celebrate our 20th year" says founding Artistic Director Ajay Heble.
The festival, which will be held Sept. 4 to 8, offers jazz performance and educational programs and is considered among the most visionary musical events in Canada. It has received the Lieutenant-Governor's Award for the Arts and the Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts. The Festival program for the 2013 season will be announced in June.
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