Friends of the Arts Postcard Art Auction March 1

Suppose you could get a work of visual art, a piece of art that was pleasing to the eye and possibly created by a nationally known artist or a gifted young art student who lives in this community?  And what if you could take home that work of art in your pocket?

The opportunity will become a reality for anyone in Central Illinois who attends the Illinois State University Friends of the Arts Postcard Art Auction at 6 p.m. Saturday, March 1, in the University Galleries.  There will be refreshments and live music, including faculty pianist David Feurzeig performing ragtime and stride pieces on the gallery’s new baby grand piano.  The piano was purchased with the help of a Friends of the Arts fundraising campaign.  Some of the student musicians to perform are Friends of the Arts Scholarship recipients.

In its first fund-raiser of this kind, the Friends solicited several hundred 4” by 6” pieces of postcard art created by well-known national artists who live in the community, student artists and other artists and non-artists both locally and from as far away as California and Florida.   The artists’ names are on the back of the pieces so bidders will not know whose works they are trying to own.  When the selection process is over, everyone attending will have received a piece of postcard art. 

Proceeds from the event will be used for future scholarships for fine arts students in music, theatre, art and arts technology at Illinois State.  Friends of the Arts is a long-standing organization dedicated to raising scholarship funds for students in the College of Fine Arts.

Among the well-known local artists who have created postcards are Nicolas Africano, Sheila Asbell Allen, Angel Ambrose, Jim Butler, Herb Eaton, Harold Gregor, Ken Holder, Jin Lee, Dann Nardi and Michael Wille.  University President Al Bowman also lent his talents to a post card.  But it is students in the School of Art, some of whom have received Friends of the Arts Scholarships, who have created the largest number of pieces.

"I've really been struck by the stellar quality of the ISU art student submissions,” said Galleries Director Barry Blinderman.  “Students, after all, have the biggest stake in this benefit event—they know how much impact a Friends of the Arts scholarship can have on their successful pursuit of a degree.  I am touched by the thought and effort they have put into creating their donated artwork, and also by the encouragement they have received from their professors. Student work comprises around half of the 400-plus postcards we will be showing.”

Admission to the Postcard Art Auction is $60.  Ticket information is available at the College of Fine Arts office, (309) 438-8321, or on the Web at www.illinoisstate.edu/finearts and clicking on Postcard Art.