September 28, 2005
Attic art sale peaks interest
Quota Club to raise funds through sale of 'gently used' art
By Carol South
Herald contributing writer
Bringing a new kind of fund-raiser to town, the Quota Club of Traverse City is holding an Attic Art Fundraiser on Saturday, October 8.
The event will be held from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the VFW Hall on Veterans Drive in Traverse City and will feature more than 1,000 donated works of art. With prices ranging from $1 to $1,000, the show includes pieces large and small in media ranging from fabric, oil and pastel to cross stitch, batiks and pottery. A collection of beer signs and Christmas items will also be for sale.
The show will also include a limited amount of Depression glass as well as original art works donated by former State Senator George McManus. Not to mention 35 large canvases donated by the Park Place Hotel and potentially others from the Grand Traverse Resort.
Pieces by local artists in the show include a Glenn Wolff print, titled "Grand Traverse," as well as works by Jim Foote, a noted wildlife artist, and Terri Haugen of Benzonia.
"It's unbelievable what we have - pricing is going to be a very difficult thing," said Patti Schaap, co-chair of the event. "I think what's nice is that we've got so many signed and original pieces, oils, watercolors and charcoals."
"We have something for everybody," she added.
Schaap's daughter gave her the idea after helping organize a used art sale for the Milwaukee Art Museum. Schaap said the Quota Club jumped at the idea, which they had never seen done locally, and plan to make it an annual fundraising event for the club.
A few ads, some radio time and word of mouth have had donations pouring in to club members, who also offer to pick up items. They have been holding regular cleaning bees at Schaap's home to get all the artwork ready for the sale, sorting and organizing as they go.
Any worries about collecting enough artwork quickly evaporated.
"We wanted to make sure we had 1,000 pieces and I would guess we're well over that," said Sue Snow, a co-chair of the event.
Sometimes shoppers at used art sales are artists themselves, looking for a bargain on a canvas to recycle, Schaap noted from her daughter's experience.
"They will buy something just for the canvas, which is already stretched and framed," she said, adding that new, blank canvases could run $50 for a larger piece.
The club will bring in a professional appraiser before the show opens to ensure that they are on track with prices. And that a masterpiece does not sell for $10.
"We want to make sure, we don't have any experience and we're just too ignorant to know," said Snow.
Funds raised by the event, which will also include a silent auction, will benefit local Quota Club programs. A local chapter of an International Service Organization, the club has a mission to serve the hearing impaired plus women, children and families in need. The local chapter began in 1995 and holds one grant cycle every year in February, granting more than $53,000 in a decade. The club also holds a cookie extravaganza in early December and a golf outing in spring as other fund-raisers.
For more information on the Attic Art Sale or to donate unwanted but 'gently used' art, contact Schaap at 947-5375 or Snow at 935-1892. Purchases during the sale may be made using cash, check or a credit card.