The new Dale Chihuly grant is a hefty chunk of change: $25,000 for two Washington State artists in any discipline annually for three years, administered by Artist Trust. Chihuly and his wife Leslie gave $150,000, and Artist Trust turned it into a recession gap-grant with bells on.
Three years from now, we’ll all be coming up roses, right? Better a sizable check in tight times than the same amount extended over a longer period. I’ll drink to that.
The Chihulys could have limited the award to glass artists. I’m glad they didn’t. They could have limited it to visual artists. I wish they had, not because I begrudge dancers, writers, musicians and theater workers their chance at temporary financial security, but because artists in all disciplines benefit from what visual artists continue to provide, every year, at the Artist Trust Auction. That’s 23 years of giving away their work to support everybody’s work.
This year’s auction was a big success, says Artist Trust. It raised $325,000, $315,000, highest in AT history. The money earned by visual artists goes to fund “grants, resources and career training for artists in all disciplines throughout Washington State.”
The highest bid of the night was $5,000 for Alan Fulle‘s Freedom Space (23″ x 52″ oil and acrylic on canvas within epoxy resin from 2008). At the Traver Gallery, this piece lists at $7,500. The high-water bid was a bargain.
Fulle is underrated, but apparently not by those drinking champagne and waving bid paddles over their heads. Although he’s a dazzling and materially adventurous painter, he shows at a gallery known for glass. Its audience is a gated community, with little follow-through traffic on the street.
At any rate, congratulations to Artist Trust, and big thanks to the Chihulys.
Thanks, Regina.
To clarify: we raised over $315,000 at the Auction.
Read the entire press release here: http://www.artisttrust.org/about_us/press_room/auctionchihuly
I know whenever I say anything regarding auctions I get a lot of folks that missunderstand my point. To be clear, I am a huge fan of Artist Trust, in fact, I am currently trying to create a scholarship fund for one of their programs, so do don’t get your undies in a bunch about this. It’s just an opinion. So here goes:
When I was on the PONCHO art acquisition committee, one of my suggestions was that all the proceeds from the visual art auction go to visual art organizations and that the other disciplines should do their own “donating for fundraisers” but my idea did not fly. As a visual artist, I would love to afford to go to the opera and the ballet and the symphony and I do want them all to thrive but I have little access to any of them. Any ballet dancer, opera singer of symphony musician can go to any gallery and some museums (at least on certain days) for free yet I don’t see any of these organizatons (Ballet, Opera, Symphony, etc), individually or collectively, doing anything to benefit the visual arts.
Actually, dancers, writers, musicians and theater workers do contribute to the Artist Trust auction by donating performances at the Auction.
And limiting the Chihuly funds to visual arts would look bad not only for the Chihulys (what, they don’t support other forms of art?) and Artist Trust, which is already too titled to Visual Arts (because it’s material and therefore easier to sell).
Molly. You’re not seriously trying to say a performance here or there as a recent addition to the auction in any way comes close to the mainline artery of contribution visual artists have provided through the 23-year life of Artist Trust? Just say thank you to visual artists. It’s much more gracious. And it wouldn’t have “looked bad” for the Chihulys to single out visual artists. A lot of grants single out a discipline without raising anyone’s ire.
@Juan – I completely and totally understand the concept to which you’re referring.
@Molly – “easier to sell”… please tell me you thought twice of your comment upon posting and felt serious regret. Shall we count the ways in which visual artists contribute their talent throughout the city only to be asked to continue to not only do so, but also prove themselves worthy to do so multiple times over as a philanthropic part of this community via the biased selection process which seems to exist. “Easier to sell” is a mentality, which does not exist. Many would be thrilled to experience various forms forms of expression and pay for it should it actually be on the menu.
@ the universe in general – You do not see a one man show performed within a stranger’s home, a personal opera performance, a writer who shows up on site to write for you, etc…. rather, what you do see is a very personal, tangible, expression of a visual artist taken off the auction table and placed into another individuals world. Tangible in this city happens to equate with accessible via an auction.
That being said, I am a serious proponent of fundraising on behalf of the arts. I also, however, am a proponent of fairness and equality. Visual artists’ tangible contributions hugely outweigh those of which are not visually present and tangible, period.
It would be quite the gester to not only recognize this fact, but also respect it.
One final note, I don’t believe giving any amount of money, slight or grand could ever look “bad” for anyone, this includes the Chihuly’s.