She started by looking in her own closets and corners.

“It was there,” Susan Levy said, “under the bed, behind the desk. I had it. We all have it – the art we’ve outgrown.”

Noting that some of her own art collection no longer fits her walls, or her taste, the Bainbridge Arts and Crafts board president had a brainstorm. The gallery could give people a chance to turn in old art and acquire new – and raise money for BAC programs.

Levy assembled a committee headed by Kate Sharafanowich. The group planned two unique, events, “Part with Art” and the “Art Xchange” for consecutive weekends Feb. 16-18 and Feb. 23.

The linked events are really two sides of the same coin.

“First, you get to turn in art that doesn’t work for you any more at ‘Part With Art’,” Levy said, “Then, the next weekend, you get to pick out new art at ‘Art Xchange.’ It’s symmetrical.”

Proceeds will buy art supplies for Bainbridge public schools, give students scholarships and send artists-in-residence into classrooms.

“At a traditional art auction,” Levy said, “the same people are always giving. We wanted to be more inclusive.”

The twin events should work for many people, she said, because most collected art doesn’t have a secondary market.

“Few of us have Picassos that appreciate in value,” Levy said. “An analogy might be cars that depreciate over time. Few people own collectible vehicles.”

But the reasons people acquire art tend to shift over time – as does taste.

“You might begin with mass-produced items, like framed posters,” Levy said, “but after a few years, you might grow to collect other things. Perhaps you inherited art that doesn’t work for you.

“Or, you might begin collecting desert scenes because you live in the southwest, but find that a change of locale makes that art feel wrong. We don’t want to sell that art at a garage sale, though, because it has more value to you than that. So how do you part with it?”

“Part with Art” Feb 16-18 offers two ways to give it up – artists and collectors can donate outright or consign a work. Any “leftover” art will be distributed at no cost to local non-profit organizations.

Highlights planned for sale day Feb. 23, Levy says, include a red carpet at the door and “artists in motion,” high school students who will create pieces during the sale.

Despite all the planning, there are no guides to give Levy or committee members a hint as to what to expect this weekend or the next.

“There’s nothing that’s been done that we can relate to,” Sharafanowich. “These events are unique, we’ve checked all over and we can’t find anyone else who has tried anything like this. It’s new territory.”