Organizers of next weekend’s fund-raiser event promote a more egalitarian affair.
Every Saturday morning for the past month or so, Mary Clare Kersten has positioned herself in the town square, chatting with market-goers and handing out flyers.
It’s her second year as Auction for the Arts coordinator, and she picked up a key lesson that she’s carried forward to auction outreach:
“I learned that it does not sell itself,” Kersten said, “just because it’s a great idea.”
For the 2007 Auction for the Arts, which will take place next Saturday in the town square, she hopes to bring the auction to the people. Kersten’s rationale is that recipient organizations – the Bainbridge Island Arts and Humanities Council, Bainbridge Arts and Crafts, Bainbridge Performing Arts and the Bainbridge Chorale – form the lifeblood of the arts on Bainbridge. It follows that the entire community should be invited to support them.
“Everyone benefits from breathing the air of these organizations,” Kersten said.
The shift began last year as the auction moved into the expansive environs of the public square between BPA and City Hall – the “heart of Bainbridge,” as Kersten puts it.
Past auctions at Kiana Lodge, with its seating cap of fewer than 225 people, generally sold out. So Kersten and the auction committee marketed the event the same way as they had in the past, largely through invitations. But they found that while the number of attendees remained steady, the venue swallowed them.
Not only that; with the weather cooperating and patrons having such a good time outdoors, the live auction in the BPA performance hall nearly became an afterthought as people lingered near the silent auction tables enjoying the late summer evening.
“They were having a good time talking outside, and they’d already spent a lot of money,” Kersten said. “So I went into the live auction, and it was half empty.”
This year has been one of saturation marketing, “so every household on the island knows that they’re invited to Auction for the Arts,” Kersten said. The whole event will take place outdoors, with the BPA lobby used for check-in and check-out only.
Kersten has also worked with state liquor authorities and the city to secure the ability to serve wine and beer throughout the event space, not just in a limited area. Between fine wine, a great meal by local restaurants and the smooth expertise of auctioneers Matt Smith and David Silverman, Kersten hopes to build merriment and bidding momentum, the adage being, “one person is a sale; two people are an auction.”
Auction items will include works by local artists; performances by local musicians and actors; restaurant dinners and vacation packages; and retail donations, collectibles and services.
Past auctions have offered numerous pieces at high price points, and this year’s honorary auction chairs, Laurie A. Lyall and metalsmith Heikki Seppä, have donated dramatic high-end pieces.
But since big-ticket items can be challenging to auction off, much of the artwork this year will be valued at $400-$500, an accessible range typically seen in local galleries.
Many have been donated by up-and-coming and established artists with island ties like Blaine Fontana, Braden Duncan and Marc Anderson.
Some people have told Kersten they think the $85 ticket price is too high. To that, she replies that events are expensive – “try putting on a wedding.”
But more to the point, the aim is for ticket sales and sponsorships to cover the cost of staging the event. Every dollar in proceeds that doesn’t have to go toward tent rental, dinner and drinks is a dollar that goes directly into the coffers of recipient organizations.
“When an artist gives a painting to the auction, they think the proceeds are going to the cause,” Kersten said. “And that’s where they should go.”
Last year the auction committee wrote $96,000 in checks to recipient organizations, with a hope to top $100,000 this year.
“The four organizations have sources of income. But the income that comes from the auction is the income that provides their outreach,” Kersten said. “And they have a wide, wide reach.
She adds, “Our money is the money they use to inspire Bainbridge Island.”
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Ars gratia artis
The Auction for the Arts begins at 5 p.m. Sept. 8 in the town square outside Bainbridge Performing Arts. Tickets, $85, are available at BPA, Bainbridge Arts & Crafts, the BIAHC office and at www.artsauction.org.