Art for Arf's Sake Art Auction

Saturday, March 28, 2009

$55,000

Thank You!

The 2009 Arf's Art Auction raised about $55,000* this year, a ten percent increase over last year!  With a capacity crowd and some of the very best art and items we have ever had, our auction beat all previous records and, given the concerns we had about how the economy might effect bidding, beat all our expectations!  The staff, board and animals of the Humane Society extend our profound thanks to all the bidders, patrons, donors and artists making this success a reality.

Our work at the HSBC is a team effort and we can't help animals without the part of the team that helps us pay for it.  On Saturday, March 28, you did just that!  Thank you!! We had the best bidding ever and had winners from as far as Chicago and Virginia thanks to proxy bidding!

Check out some pictures of the auction below!

Click here to watch a cool YouTube of the evening!

Download the PDF of the complete Auction program featuring listings of all items, Patron and sponsors by clicking here! (It's in a funky booklet layout but you'll figure it out!)

*Pints for Pups has been split off from the auction this year.  Join us on July 11 at FirstEnergy Stadium for the massively expanded PfP.

Now, didn't that look like fun and wasn't that one fine looking crowd? 

Check out what you missed below!  Make sure you sign up for our e-newsletter on our homepage so you get early details about the 2010 auction and other events.

This just in!  Download the PDF of the complete Auction program featuring listings of all items in the Live, Silent and Chinese Auctions by clicking here! (It's in a funky booklet layout, so it'll seem a little screwy!)

Spring is just around the corner and that can only mean one thing- the Art for Arf's Sake Art Auction to benefit the animals and programs of the Humane Society of Berks County!  We are super excited about the 2009 auction.  It will feature amazing art, phenomenal food and a fantastic new location.  Whether you have been with us before or are new to Arf's Art, you won't want to miss this one!

This year's Arf's Art Auction will be held on Saturday, March 28, 2009, beginning at 6:00 PM (live auction begins at 7:00 PM).  With elbow room to spare, a beautiful setting, lots of food, and music by The Manatawny Creek Ramblers, you'll be sure to get in the bidding mood. And the tasty bar courtesy of sponsors Legacy and Reading Brewing Companies and Barefoot Wine & Bubbly probably won't hurt, either!  As always, our talented and energetic auctioneer, Dick Henry, will keep things moving and fast paced!

Of course, you won't just come for the delicious food and drink, you'll want to join us for your shot at some of the best art created by our very best local and regional artists (see below) and by some better known artists and musicians from around the United States (check out the Celebrity section below)!

And it won't just be great art of the 2-D variety, either!  Sculpture, mosaics, scrimshaw, hand-crafted jewelry and textiles will featured, plus some unique and interesting non-art items.  There will be something for every taste and budget.

Tickets for the Arf's Art Auction are $35 and Arf's Art Patron Packages begin at $125.  Arf's Art Patrons get some extra perks, including invitation to an exclusive sneak preview catered reception on Thursday March 5.  Patrons will be able to get a close up look at the art featured in the auction and mix and mingle with other patrons and many of the artists contributing their creations.  Patrons also receive listings and space in the Auction program book if registering by March 13.  Show the community your commitment to animal welfare and the HSBC by being listed as a proud Patron!

Here comes the, "But, seriously, folks...":  But, seriously, folks.  The HSBC needs your help right now in order to ensure that we can continue to do great things for pets and people.  Did you know that with your help, after over 100 years, we completely eliminated the euthanasia of healthy, adoptable animals in our two shelters last year?  Not decreased it.  Eliminated it!  We need your help to do even more.  This year we want to get even more sick and injured animals rescued- and we know we can do it.

You know you can't get dinner and drinks for $35 these days, and even if you could, wouldn't you rather get dinner and drinks where your bill will go to help the animals?  And if you buy some art (when you buy some of the great art), where else can you buy something cool for yourself and have all the proceeds go straight to homeless and abused animals in need?  So, buy your tickets today and plan on a great night out in March.  If you can do more, show your leadership by becoming an Arf's Art Patron today so you can help even more and inspire your friends, family and co-workers to join you.  And finally, join us, have a nice time and fall in love with something that you just have to make the winning bid on!

The animals are counting on you! Thanks!

Order your tickets or become an Arf's Art Patron by clicking right here!

Call To Artists:  The HSBC is still accepting submissions for the 2009 Art for Arf's Sake Art Auction.  Email us to get an artist submission package.

Celebrity Friends

(OK, they are celebrities to us!)

The HSBC is proud of the strong support it has received from our spectacular local and regional arts community.  We're also extremely proud of the support that we have received from others from around the country, including some well known names if a variety of fields.  This year we are offering advance proxy bidding again and if you are really nuts for anything, we might even be able to do that cool looking cell phone proxy bidding like they do at Sotheby's- how cool would that be?  NOTE: Proxy Bidding is now closed!  Sorry if you missed out.

At this year's Arf's Art Auction, you'll be able to pick up some neat items from folks like:

John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants: What do we need to say?  It's the guy from freakin' They Might Be Giants!!  You don't need us to tell you about them if you know TMBG and if you don't know...well, you've led a sheltered life.  We'll help with that!  We hadn't seen his art piece in person yet when we got an email from Operator Dot of TMBG.com, our liaison with the dynamic duo, "... John F just called to tell me he's superfastmailing the project to you today in time for Saturday*. It's a ukulele with paintings of his cat on it."  Pure genius.

Imagine how good "Dr. Worm" will sound played on a uke hand painted by a Giant!

We're still lobbying for a TMBG theme song for our BCTV show.  I bet a really high winning bid and personal letter to John from the winner might help....

*Apparently, it wasn't superfast enough.  The Uke arrived the day after the 2008 auction, making it the very first piece of celebrity art for the 2009 auction!

Jack Logan: Jack's first release was the critically acclaimed Bulk which contained 42 songs from the approximately 600 Logan had recorded from 1979 to 1993. Both Bulk and Logan's next album, Mood Elevator, received four stars in Rolling Stone.  Also an accomplished artist, dog lover, and all around nice guy, Jack has donated an original 8 x 11 pen and crayon, shown here.

Sue Coe: Sue Coe is one of the most important politically oriented artists living in the U.S. today. From the outset of her career working as an illustrator for such publications as the New York Times and Time Magazine, Coe was committed to reaching a broad audience through the print media. Later, she began creating extended visual discourses on subjects (such as racial discrimination or animal rights) that she felt were not being adequately addressed by conventional news organizations. Widely written about and exhibited, Coe has appeared on the cover of Art News and been the subject of a retrospective exhibition at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. Her work is in the collections of many major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.  The freakin' Smithsonian and MOMA?  How the heck did we manage this?

Sue has graciously (and with help from a very good friend of ours) given us a signed print (#01, no less) of her "Modern Man Followed by the Ghosts of His Meat" (shown).  Very cool.

Betsy Lewin: Betsy grew up in Clearfield, Pennsylvania. She always loved to draw and can’t remember wanting to be anything but an artist. Betsy’s art is usually humorous, drawn in pen or brush with watercolor washes, as in Click, Clack, Moo; Cows That Type, but she also paints in a naturalistic style as in Chubbo’s Pool. Gorilla Walk is her first collaboration with her husband Ted and is about their trek to see the mountain gorillas in Uganda. Many of Betsy’s books have appeared on the New York Times Best Seller List and she has garnered many awards including a silver medal from the Society of Illustrators, and a Caldecott Honor for Click, Clack, Moo; Cows That Type by Doreen Cronin. 

Betsy has donated a copy of two books she illustrated, Two Eggs, Please and A Hug Goes Around, both with personalized and signed cover pages.  And as if that wasn't enough, she also sent along framed original art from the books (all shown)!  Somewhere, there is an elementary school teacher, librarian or parent of young children having hot flashes over this.  Remember, if you can't make the auction, you can always make a proxy bid via email or phone (click here)!

Hey, you don't have to live in big, old New York City or fancy Winder, Georgia, to be a big deal in our book.  Arf's Art features some of the best and brightest talent right here in our little slice of heaven.  Check out some of the amazing art created by PA's own (legalese: Items subject to change, pieces cropped to fit space, if you want to check them out in advance become a Patron (click here) and come to the preview reception this Thursday, March 5):

More art and artist will be posted as they hit our hot little hands (descriptions to follow for newly added art).
Kate Perkins Clewell "Archie" Mixed Media 18" x 24"	Elizabeth Kiddy "Fighting Cock" Linocut on Paper 20" x 20"	Charlene Jobe "Sunflower Bouquet" Watercolor 20" x 28"
Jane Lupas "Impermanence 1" Acylic on canvas 12" x 24"
Lowell King "Cold Amber" Acrylic on canvas 11" x 14"
Mark N. May Untitled Wood, Found Objects		Jane Lupas "Impermanence 2" Acylic on canvas 12" x 24"
Pat Kalnoski "May Day" Watercolor 16" x 20"
	Chadds Ford-Brandywine Package “$30 Gift Card to Buckley's Tavern, 8 Passes to the Brandywine River Museum, 2 Passes to Winterthur Museum & Country Estates”, 2 passes to Longwood Gardens
Pat Mock "Liberty" Stained Glass 12" x 12"
Sharon McGinley "See No, Hear No, Speak No" Mixed Media 16" x 20"
Angelo Di Maria “Molly Resting” Bronze Sculpture 15" x 4" x 4"	Becky Stiles “Deer Trail” Colored Pencil (16" x 20")	Beth Carroll “Walk This Way” Watercolor 16" x 25"
	Carl Westley "Walk'n the Dog" Woodcarving/Mahogany Walking Stick 31" Long
Donna Unger "Puss Cat" Charcoal 17" x 21"
Big Dutch “Blue Rocks” Mixed 8" x 10"	Christine J. Leinbach “Attitude IS Everything #2” Acrylic 16" x 20"	Gum Ran Youse “Wagging Tails” Limited Edition Watercolor 11" x 14"
Jeff Roeckle “Fish Coat Rack” Metal 6' tall	Juan Garcia “Untitled” Acrylic on Masonite 16" x 20"	Karen Wolf “Maestro & Pupil” Mixed Media 12" x 12"
Adrienne Trafford "Spike with Brush" Acrylic on Canvas	Kristen T. Woodward “What Cures You” Mixed media on wood 40" x 40"	Cari Myford Travelscapes Photography “Antarctic Splendor” Original Photography 15" x 18"
Lisa Thenga Silpada Designs Senior Representative Sterling Silver chain with pearls and quartz 35" long	Sue Coe “Modern Man Followed by the Ghosts of his Meat” Printed, signed & limited 10" x 14"	Currier & Ives Prints The Saunders-Watson Group PR “The Four Seasons” Lithographs 4 framed 8" x 10"
Ron Schira “Hemingway” 11" x 14"	Bridget D. Duffie “Slate Clock” Slate	Ehrin C. Kelley “Dream Tree” Oil on Canvas 24" x 36"
Rebecca Ross “Safe Shelter” Oil Pastel 16 9/16" x 25 1/2"	Marnie Beitz “Chip the Zombie # 26” Life sized Zombie	Jackie Muth “Earth, Air, Water, and Fire: Schema of Creation” Mixed
Donna Unger “Down - Stay” Acrylic Print 11" x 14"	Edward Terrell	Zettlemoyer Pottery “Rosette” Sgraffito - Pennsylvania German Redware 11" x 2 " deep
Emily Branch CageFreeDesign.com “Solly Farms, Bucks County” Archival Photograph on 100% Rag 16" x 20"	Fran Chelius & Joanne Reider Twin Size Bed Quilt 63" x 75"	Christine J. Leinbach “Early Autumn Landscape #1” Acrylic 16" x 20"
Katherine A. Tonner The Saunders-Watson Group PR “Sporting Dogs in Field, 1935” Oil on Canvas 22" x 16"	Kristen T. Woodward “Lucky” Encaustic on wood 9" x 12"	Pam Ullman "Morning Walk " Photographic Print 16" x 20"
Jackie Muth “Forest Fire” Mixed/Ink	Walt Hug “World Trade Center - Lower Manhattan” Color Photography 16" X 20"	David Yurman “Amethyst Silver Bangle Bracelet” 5mm Silver Bangle with Amethyst End Caps
Jan Crooker “Bright Spring” Acrylic 36" x 24"	Steven J. White “Millard House” Signed Giclee Print 19" X 23 "	Josh Cusatis “On Schedule For The Transdimensional Railroad” Collage 7" x 7"
Kyra Schirk “Squirrel” Watercolor 17" x 10.5"	Lowell King “Autumn” Acrylic on Canvas 11" x 14"	Jeff Roeckle “Giraffe” Metal 21" tall
Nancey Seghetti “Blondell” Glass Mosaic 24" x 24"	Paul A. Darby “Red Arbor” Watercolor and Ink 11" x 14"	Paul "Skip" Hamaker “Scrimshaw Powderhorn” Cow horns 13"
John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants “Marla” Ukelele with hand paintings of his cat on it 21.5"	Robert Eck “House In Pienza Italy” Photography 11" x 14"	Victoria Scheirer “Living Room” Photography
Jackie Muth “Storm at Sea” Ink/Mixed	Ron Schira “Triobite” 11" x 14"
Cari Myford - Travelscapes Photography “Family Time -Serengeti Cheetahs” Original Photography 15" x 28"	Cari Myford Travelscapes Photography “Great Heron” Original Photography 12" x 16"	Adrienne Trafford "Spike Self Portrait" Acrylic on canvas
Stephanie Stamm “Snow Bunnies” Watercolor Giclee Print 11" x 14"	Bridget D. Duffie “Slate Clock” Slate	Diane Stetler “Bird Of Paradise” Watercolor 36" x 40"
Susan Phillips Speece “Bryce Canyon” Photography 15" x 19"	Christine J. Leinbach “Bed warmer #1” Acryllic 16" x 20"	Aaron Farrar Sun Federal Credit Union “Fish Print” Print 16" x 20"
Ron Schira “Dale” 8 1/2" x 11"	Victoria Scheirer “Fountains at Long Wood Gardens” Photography	Jackie Muth “Temple Door” Mixed
David Velahos “The Boy Who Cried Dentist” Acrylic on Canvas 24" x 36"	Walt Hug “The Strand Key West” Color Photography 11" x 14"	Zettlemoyer Pottery “Parrot” Sgraffito - Pennsylvania German Redware 10 1/2" x 1 1/2" deep
Carol J. Haile “When I Am An Old Woman” Watercolor 25" x 27"	Pam Ullman "Jack of All Trades " Photographic Print 16" x 20"	Ken Gehret & Irish Mist “Irish Mist Concert 2 hour concert at your home”
Jeff Roeckle “Face” Metal 2' tall	Jessica A. Stockett “Untitled” Encaustic on Wood Panel	Pam Ullman "Days Like This I Miss My Mother" Photographic Print 16" x 20"