Members of the Elora Centre for the Arts were beaming after a second Artcetera over the May 7 weekend.
The three day event included a preview on May 5 and culminated with a gala dinner and auction on the Saturday.
Event organizer and board member Joanne Grodzinski said in an interview she believes the group hit its budget target of $35,000 for this year’s auction.
There was a silent auction that featured emerging artists, and then the main one on the Saturday at the gala that featured bidding on pieces by established artists.
For the second year in a row, Elora artist John Kissick’s art works fetched the highest bids.
Grodzinski said the event is set up so that the artists receive some of the proceeds from their, and the centre receives the rest.
She said this year the artists received about $18,000 as their share of the sales as nearly 200 people attended the final evening and the bidding was competitive.
Grodzinski was thrilled that this year’s silent auction was also a big success.
“We sold twice as many pieces as we did last year,” she said.
On May 5 she cited a new feature of that auction.
It was called “buy it now.” All the pieces had reserve bids on them, but, for a premium price, people could buy any piece at a price set well above the reserve, and then claim it immediately. Several pieces were already sold before the close on Thursday night.
Grodzinski said that technique and the sale itself “will help emerging artists as well as the established ones.”
She was also thrilled at the community support. Nearly 200 people attended the gala on May 7, but over the three days, she said the increase in traffic at the centre was up 500 per cent over the first year of the event.
“All the rooms were packed,” she said.
