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The Kelowna Art Gallery is making art accessible to the masses.
As of Friday night, the online bidding auction began and it will continue until Wednesday, April 19th, three days before the gala event.
The Kelowna Art Gallery is putting on its annual Appetite for Art Fundraiser. The gala costs $120 to attend.
However, this is the second year that the Kelowna Art Gallery will be hosting an online art auction to make art more accessible for the masses.
"We wanted to open up these works to everyone to have a chance to find one that they really fell in love with and took home," said Joshua Desnoyers, marketing and events coordinator for the Kelowna Art Gallery.
The online auction boasts 30 different artists' work and it does not cost $120 to bid online.
So whether a person attends the glitzy event or attends online from the comforts of home, a coffee shop or elsewhere - either way, art buyers are raising money for the children's educational programming at the Gallery.
"So people can bid, bid, bid and then those works will be officially shown as part of our gala fundraiser on Saturday," said Desnoyers.
That's right, the gala attendees have the opportunity to outbid an online bidder, as the online bidding closes on Wednesday evening.
"A number of the online bidders, you could tell that they really wanted to take the piece home, so they put in a strong bid and basically claimed the piece, and if nobody out bid it at the event then they got to take it home."
Last year, online pieces went for anywhere between $100 to $1800.
The gallery is also giving the artist an option of receiving 50 per cent of the profits or receiving a charitable tax receipt.
"We know that many fundraisers kind of take advantage of art to raise dollars," said Desnoyers.
He said the gallery's goal is to connect artists, as well as appreciate that this is their craft, their profession.
"We wanted to take a lead and say we recognize that this is paying your bills, we want to support you, if you want to take a portion of the proceeds, that's all good."
The works of art run the gamut of Okanagan landscapes to still lifes, to boldly-coloured abstracts. The mediums vary from oil, acrylic paint, textiles, mixed media, ceramic and glass.
The following artists are donating their work to the fundraiser:
Lynden Beesley, Graciela Blancarte, Mary Bull, Amy Burkard, Jan Crawford, Jessie Dunlop, Jane Everett, Sara Gagnon, Clea Haugo, Ron Hedrick, Jessica Hedrick, Angelika Jaeger, Byron Johnstad, Asher J Klassen, Hanss Lujan, Jolene Mackie, Debra Martin, Susan McCarrell, Jo McKechnie, Fiona Neal, Kyle L. Poirier, Liz Ranney, Bonny Roberts, Grace Shaw, Leanne Spanza, and Meghan Wise.
The online auction will close on Wednesday, April 19, 2017, but attendees of the live gala fundraiser on Saturday, have a final opportunity to place bids at the event.
The concept behind Appetite for Art is to combine a celebration of the best in local cuisine with a selection of art that guests can purchase and take home – all raising dollars to support children’s and educational programming at the Gallery.
To purchase tickets for the Appetite for Art Fundraiser live event on April 22nd, call the Gallery at 250-762-2226.
The online bidding starts now, right here.
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