Garage sale benefits art programs

The small-town feel of a garage sale met the big time venue of the IU Art Museum at the ninth annual Decorate Your Digs! sale Wednesday.

The IU Art History Association and IU Art Museum’s works-on-paper department put together a collection of used and donated mats, posters, frames and books for sale to raise money.

The AHA supplied all the books and the mats, and posters and frames were supplied by the museum.

“It’s a good pairing,” said Nan Brewer the Art Museum works-on-paper curator. “It’s a beneficial pairing for both. I know for the AHA it is one of their main fundraisers, and for us it’s a way to get used materials to people who could use them. ”

AHA Secretary and Coordinator of Events Emilee Mathews said the organization holds two book sales a year as its main fundraisers.

“The books were donated from the Fine Arts library, the School of Fine Arts Gallery, various faculty members and even students,” Mathews said.

“The funds from both sales go toward our annual graduate student symposium held in late March,” she said.

Mathews, who ran the cash register, said the sale drew a diverse crowd.

“I made posters, sent out e-mails and made a Facebook group to promote the sale,” Mathews said. “A good mix of adults, faculty members, students and
booksellers came, and members of the AHA as well. It’s nice to see people enthused about books and art books in particular.”

Mathews said the organization priced the donated art books based on their perceived quality, in particular the quality of the photographs. Prices ranged from 50 cents to $20, and the posters were all $1.

“We had a brisk crowd in the morning,” Mathews said. “The book carts were completely full when we started.”

Freshman Kalyssa Eversman browsed the books in the afternoon, and said she was drawn to the sale for posters.

“The prices are definitely reasonable,” Eversman said. “I came for posters. I like hanging things in my room, but I’ll probably end up walking out of here with some books.”

Unlike the AHA, the works-on-paper department said the sale is less of a fundraiser for them and more of a housecleaning venture.

“The frames and mats are no longer useful for us,” said Jeanne Leimkuhler, the director of framing for the works-on-paper department. “Everything is priced lower then what you would find at a frame store. To have something framed at a store would cost about $100. It’s cheaper to do it yourself.”

Both Leimkuhler and Brewer said they were pleased with the results of the sale.
“We sold a lot of mats,” Brewer said. “We hope they get into the hands of people who need them, say students for a class. We can’t re-use them, but hopefully someone else can.”