The Art Of Charity Benefit Auctions Give Local Artists More Exposure And Help Raise Funds For Charity

When it comes to mixing the arts with charity, Carole Montgomery has a unique vantage point.

As development director of Cancer Patient Care, she is one of the organizers of Splendor in the Glass, CPC’s annual wine tasting and art auction.

And Montgomery has a simple explanation for the whole concept.

“I see it as a unique opportunity to integrate the arts into the community while raising funds to provide cancer patients who otherwise wouldn’t have care,” she says.

In other words, you can support the arts while providing for charity and having a good time.

Spokane is host to many such charity events throughout the year. This coming weekend, in fact, will feature two of them, both involving the sale of art.

The Fifth Annual Splendor in the Glass will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at the Crescent Court. Wall to Wall, the Cheney Cowles Museum’s third annual bargain art sale, will begin its three-day run Friday at the museum’s Carriage House.

Splendor in the Glass

Some 32 artists have provided works for the evening auction. The usual lineup of Spokane artists are involved, including Harold Balazs, Mari Anne Figgins, Steve Adams, Louise Kodis, Mel MdCuddin, Kay O’Rourke, Ken Spiering, etc.

But there’s more, too. According to Montgomery, the auction will feature gift certificates for such performing arts organizations as Civic Theatre, Interplayers, Connoisseur Concerts, Uptown Opera and Allegro.

The auction, tickets to which cost $25 apiece, is scheduled to last three hours. During that time, auctiongoers will dine on pasta, salads, bread and have access to a full line of wines provided by Caterina Winery.

All proceeds go to aid families of cancer patients whose finances have been ruined by medical costs. Cancer Patient Care, a non-profit group that has been serving Spokane since 1958, provides such basic items as wheelchairs, walkers and electric beds and such services as paying electric, heat and grocery bills.

“People with cancer come here when they have exhausted all other resources,” Montgomery says. “When they have nowhere else to turn, they can come to us and get the help at no charge.”

Tickets are limited. For information, call 456-0446.

Wall to Wall

Unlike some city museums, Cheney Cowles has no budget for new art acquisitions. That’s why, art curator Barbara Racker says, the museum annually holds two fund-raising events for that express purpose.

The more exclusive event is the museum’s Works of Heart auction.

“Wall to Wall was seen as an alternative to the auction in that the auction is a more formal kind of thing,” Racker says. Wall to Wall, by contrast, is anything but formal.

Says Racker, “We’ve always tried to talk about Wall to Wall in terms of, oh, a garage sale for art and artrelated things.”

Some of the same regional artists - Balazs, for example - who are participating in Splendor in the Glass will have work for sale in Wall to Wall. But, Racker stresses, nothing will be priced to excess.

“These are not pieces that will go for $500,” she says.

Besides the odd painting or sculpture, items for sale will include leftover ArtFest T-shirts and visors, donated picture frames, art supplies, catalogs, art books and at least one set of encyclopedias.

Hours of the sale are 10 a.m to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1-4 p.m. Sunday. Admission is free. For further information, call 456-3931.

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