Auction supports student artists

From photographs and abstract paintings to sculptures and jewelry, the Art Museum Student Organization’s Student Art Auction had something for all art enthusiasts.

Tables and easels displaying undergraduate and graduate art students’ work filled the Thomas T. Solley Atrium on the second floor of the IU Art Museum.

Silent bidding was open from 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Carly Lillwitz said 25 pieces of art were sold, and $1,200 was raised. All unsold pieces go back to the artist.  
AMSO president Katy Robertson said the artists featured in the show and AMSO will equally share the proceeds.

“We wanted it to benefit the students as well, not just our organization,” Robertson said. “Therefore, we could keep putting on events, and they could keep making work.”

Robertson said submissions were open to all students to avoid interfering with the Bachelor of Fine Arts Group Show by the Grunwald Gallery of Art.

“We wanted any student to have the opportunity to show their work here and make money off of their work,” Robertson said. “We put call for artists’ flyers out for students throughout the studio art building, and then we juried it.”

Out of about 50 submissions, AMSO chose 40 to auction. Students did not have to pay to be included in the show.

By 11 a.m., Hannah Helton’s chevron ring already had a $40 bid. Made of sterling silver and carnelian, a semi-precious gemstone, the ring had a starting bid of $30.

“It was nice to have so much interest from so many different types of artists,” Robertson said. “We had some artists that submitted a few different pieces, and we really liked them.”

Student photographers Katherine Parkinson and Kelly Henderson both submitted about 10 photographs. The photos were displayed on a large black board to the left of the table where bid numbers were assigned.

“(The artists) get people to see their work, they get an opportunity to sell their work and they didn’t have to help at all with the
set up,” Robertson said. “We’re trying to make as much profit for the students as we can.”
Graduate student Hillary Apple said she was able to see a few pieces of artwork beforehand and decided it would be worthwhile to go to the auction. She placed the second bid on Mary Kim’s “Momo Yellow City.”

“I love painting myself, and I need some new artwork for my new apartment next year,” Apple said. “It’s got all three things I like — a lot of color, oil painting and it’s abstract.”

A third bidder won “Momo Yellow City.”

By 4 p.m., bids were placed on all four of Kim’s submissions. By the end of the night, each submission was sold. “Winter Wonderland,” another of Kim’s abstract submissions, had the most bids of the auction.

Similarly, both of Brooke Starks’s pieces “Jazz” and “Rap,” made with spray paint on hardwood, had bids by the late afternoon.

Near the stairwell, four easels displayed oil on canvas paintings by Renee McShane, a December 2011 graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. Starting bids for McShane’s paintings ranged from $80 to $120.

Sara Weizeorick, a senior minoring in studio art and art history, said she found the student art auction by accident as she was walking through the museum Thursday afternoon.

She said she also went to the Red Light Campaign’s “A Night For Freedom Art Auction” last week.

“I think it’s a good way of putting artwork to use for good causes,” Weizeorick said. “It’s a great way to get money. I think it’s cool.”

Robertson said if AMSO members think the auction was a success, it might become an annual event.

“We’re thankful for any amount we can get,” Robertson said. “Any amount is going to help us put on future programs.”