Auction fills SoFA Gallery

From a handmade sock doll named Pickles to various prints and paintings, the School of Fine Arts Gallery auctioned off a variety of artwork Friday for the Silent Night Holiday Art Sale and Auction.

A large crowd filled the gallery, each bidder with a small pencil in hand. When a piece of art caught a bidder’s interest, he or she would use that pencil to write down a bid on the card next to it. Bidding closed at 8 p.m. Tallies were made on each piece and the winners were announced.

Despite the size of the crowd, gallery coordinators were still wary to say the event raised more or less money than in previous years.

“We had approximately 54 bidders,” said Megan Abajian, public relations director for the SoFA Gallery. “I believe we handed out almost the same amount of bid numbers as last year but that bidders were being more conservative on how many items they were bidding on.”

Abajian said support for the event was still evident.

“Given the cautious economic climate this year, I think that people supported us in any way they could, either through donations to raise money or through bidding on pieces,” Abajian said.

Some pieces, Abajian said, got enough interest to be bought at the “buy now” price before the auction began. Those pieces were left up on the gallery walls, but a large red line was drawn on the bid card.

The first piece to sell was what Abajian called a “highly anticipated piece” titled “Crystalline Echo” by artist Tyson Skross. The large painting, mounted in the west gallery, sold for the asking price of $950.

“Everything in the gallery looks great,” said Randy Long, head of the school’s jewelry and metalsmithing department. “The art in this auction and the exhibition is wonderful.”

Long played a large part in the auction by donating pieces, directing student work and creating a charm bracelet raffle to benefit the metalsmithing department.

Various department students and faculty created their own charms to attach to the bracelet, which was then displayed in the center gallery Friday.

“This is the first time we’ve done this,” senior Jesse Laughter said. “It’s a good professional use of our skills.”

The raffle, Long said, raised $850 but had a surprising winner.

“I won the raffle after buying $100 in tickets,” Long said. “I offered to draw out another name, but everyone said that it was allright and that I had won fairly.”

Both Long and Laughter, who sold tickets for the raffle during the auction, said the raffle would be put on again along with next year’s auction.

Guests were also able to attended the school’s BFA Thesis Exhibition, located in the east gallery, where three students showcased their required projects for the semester.

“It’s been really awesome,” said senior Joshua Craig, one the students featured in the exhibition. “I’ve had a lot of positive reactions to my work. It feels great.”