Auctioning hope

“Art for AIDS Sake” exhibition returns

By Leon Nigrosh

December 2004 – It’s back and it’s bigger and better than ever. After a four-year respite, AIDS Project Worcester, Inc. [APW] is organizing “Art for AIDS Sake,” a juried exhibition and sale of artwork to raise money for its many services and outreach programs to help people infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

APW first started “Art for AIDS Sake” as an annual fund-raising event in the early 1990s, generating major income each year. Times changed for all of us and the last event was held in 2000. But even four years later, people in the community are still talking about the past auctions. So Executive Director Edla Bloom placed the project in Development Assistant Merredith Collins’s capable hands, and everyone will share in the fruits of her labors on December 10.

This year, the exhibition and sale will take place in the ballroom of the Hogan Campus Center at College of the Holy Cross. Nearly 50 area artists have donated up to two works of art; all to be put on the auction block. There will actually be two auctions going on simultaneously: one, a silent auction where bidders write their offers on pads next to a particular artwork; the other, a live auction called by local celebrities like artist/author Maria Florez.

Works on display will have a value from $150 to $500. Pleasantly, the format is a win-win-win situation for all. APW will get 50% of the proceeds, the artists can receive 50%, and the buyers will take away original works of art, in many cases for less than market value.

Artist Terri Priest, Worcester Art Museum’s Curator of Contemporary Art Susan Stoops and Holy Cross’s Cantor Gallery Director Roger Hankins will award first and second place cash prizes for the artworks they deem best in show.

For the first time at this event, craftworkers will be represented. More than a dozen tables laden with jewelry, pottery, enamels and more will be set up in the lounge area. These handcrafted objects have a maximum value of $150, are non-juried and purchasers can buy directly from the artisans.

To add to the excitement of the evening, many of the artists will be present at the reception to meet with patrons and sponsors while enjoying hors d’oeuvres and drinks. Holy Cross is also getting involved. Members of “Gesso,” a campus arts club, will also be displaying their artwork at the event.

Susan Swinand, a Worcester-area artist has entered two “little mixed media works on paper.” She has often supported “Art for AIDS Sake” in the past and wants to see the event continue. She says that she’s happy to see it back.

For personal reasons, John LaPrade has always actively supported APW and this time he’s entered one of his intricately cut and pasted stamp collages, “Tower of Babel,” and one of his small mixed media sculptures, “Small Cemetery #74.”

Brian Higgins tries to get involved in worthwhile projects. He recently donated several of his pastels to Mass General in Boston for a new cancer patient wing. He finds personal pleasure and satisfaction when his artwork can help others. For this APW auction he has entered two pastel drawings. One is called “Geography Classes,” in which a group of small children and animals are depicted looking across a vast space at a tiny planet — which on close inspection turns out to be Earth.

Director Bloom urges everyone to come to this event for the fun of meeting others interested in art, the excitement of the auctions and to help support a great cause.

“AIDS Project Worcester is working very hard to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS throughout Central Massachusetts. We currently service 1186 clients and work, through prevention and education, with another 5600 affected family members,” she says.