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Small art has big purpose
By Dan Craft
dcraft@pantagraph.com
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NORMAL -- Buying a pig in a poke is one thing. But letting your better instinct guide your purchase, free of all external biases, is quite another.

That will be the challenge facing attendees at Saturday night's first-ever Illinois State University Friends of the Arts Postcard Art Auction, which opens its doors at 6 p.m.

Upon entering ISU's University Galleries, site of the event, auction-goers will be faced with a vast spread of 475 pieces of "postcard"-sized art measuring 4 inches by 6 inches.

The pieces will adorn the walls of all three of the Galleries' smaller exhibition spaces.

But there will be no use looking for the authorship of said pieces: the playing field is being leveled to one of strict anonymity, with the artists' identities concealed on the back of each piece.

About all that anyone at the Friends of the Arts can tell you about their first-ever big scholarship fundraising event is this: Among the 475 pieces donated to the event are works by nationally recognized artists living locally and elsewhere.

They include the coveted likes of Nicolas Africano, Sheila Asbell Allen, Angel Ambrose, Jim Butler, Herb Eaton, Harold Gregor, Ken Holder, Jin Lee, Dann Nardi and Michael Wille.

The other submissions are no less worthy in quality, assure the organizers; they just don't pack the marquee value of the established names.

Numbered among these pieces are works by the cream of ISU's student artist crop, artists from outside the community and amateur artists, among them ISU President Al Bowman.

Works have been submitted from as far afield as California and Florida. Friends of the Arts president Carole Ringer estimates that roughly a quarter of the 475 pieces are by name artists.

Regardless of the author, each work is priced at $50.

The event's $60 ticket price includes a voucher good for one piece of artwork. Any additional piece purchased will go for the flat $50-per-work rate.

Unless, notes Ringer, there is one piece coveted by more than one art lover.

"If two or more people like the same thing and have the same great taste, those pieces will be sold in a live auction," she says. "We think that there will probably be some art aficionados who will recognize a certain artist's style."

In which case, she adds, "things could get very lively." Handling the gavel will be Mike Malone of the Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, who will begin conducting the auctions at around 40-minute intervals in each of the three galleries, starting at 7 p.m.

Attendees will be able to use their $50 voucher toward any bid they make, notes Ringer.

At the root of the event's allure will be the idea, says Ringer, that the artwork you purchase or bid passionately for "could be something by a really famous artist or celebrity of some kind, or a student artist or a townsperson."

When the Friends of the Arts first decided to hold the event, "we thought we'd be struggling to get 250 pieces; to get almost 500 is really amazing. People have been very, very generous with these donations."

When the call went out, the only stipulation was the postcard-sized dimensions. What the artists did within that space was left to their discretion.

"We've gotten a mix of all kinds of things," says Ringer. "Some of the pieces are 3-D, some are very colorful, but it's not all just paintings and sketches. There are just a huge variety of ways that people have chosen to express themselves."

"I've really been struck by the stellar quality of the ISU student art submissions," says University Galleries director Barry Blinderman. "Students, after all, have the biggest stake in this benefit event -- they know how much of an impact a Friends of the Arts scholarship can have on a successful pursuit of a degree."

In addition to all of the above, the evening will feature another big unveiling: the University Galleries' brand new baby grand piano, purchased with the help of a Friends of the Arts fundraising program.

Breaking the keyboard in will be ISU faculty pianist David Feurzeig, who will perform a concert of his trademark ragtime and stride-piano pieces.

Also performing throughout the evening will be music students who have been on the Friends of the Arts scholarship receiving end themselves, including a string quartet and madrigal brass ensemble.

Last but not least, refreshments will be served.

Though tickets will be available at the door Saturday night, Ringer recommends purchasing them at advance by calling the ISU College of Fine Arts office at (309) 438-8321.



The (un)usual suspects



Saturday night's ISU Friends of the Arts Postcard Art Auction will mix in works by some of the Twin Cities' best-known artists along with pieces by lesser-known, but talented, student and amateur artists. Until the works are purchased, the identities of the artists won't be revealed. Among the star artists whose pieces will be sharing gallery wall space anonymously are:

• Nicolas Africano

• Sheila Asbell Allen

• Angel Ambrose

• Jim Butler

• Herb Eaton

• Harold Gregor

• Ken Holder

• Jin Lee

• Dann Nardi

• Michael Wille



At a glance



What: ISU Friends of the Arts Postcard Art Auction

When: 6 p.m. Saturday

Where: ISU University Galleries

Cost: $60 (includes voucher for one piece of art)

Information: (309) 438-8321

Take a look
One of the above four works of original postcard art was created by nationally known artist Harold Gregor of Bloomington. The other three are by lesser-known but talented young artists, all of whom donated their work to Saturday night's ISU Friends of the Arts Postcard Art Auction. (For The Pantagraph)
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