Off The Wall One Person’s Trash Is Another’s Treasure At The Wall-To-Wall Art Sale

It’s not uncommon for Cheney Cowles Museum staff and volunteers to work late into the night hanging frames in the main gallery in preparation for the opening of a new show.

The difference Wednesday was that most of the frames were empty. And the rest might as well have been, unless you’re in desperate need of a clown, a kitten or one of those perpetually sad children with Peter Lorre-size eyes.

Also on display are musty art books, macrame and a miniature elephant made of ivory, bone or plastic (curator David Anderson isn’t quite sure), plus a sculpted sheepskin rug, pottery and a colorful vest (size medium) devoted to the glory of Elvis.

It all adds up to Cheney Cowles Museum’s Wall-to-Wall Used Art Sale: The Sequel.

“This is one chance for the museum to be nondiscriminating,” says Anderson, a member of the museum staff.

Last year’s inaugural sale raised $7,000 for the museum’s art acquisition fund, and only two boxes of unwanted items remained.

Those two boxes will be back this year, along with plenty of other junk … and even a few legitimate works of art.

There’s a print by Ken Spiering, an enamel by Harold Balazs, an “assemblage” from last spring’s Works of Heart auction and some 80 western paintings that Cheney Cowles Museum inherited from the Museum of Native American Cultures and chose not to add to its collection.

“If any of these had true value, we would have kept them,” Anderson says, referring to the MONAC castoffs.

But if so little of Wall-to-Wall’s inventory has any worth, why offer it for sale?

“People are reluctant to just throw art away,” Anderson explains. “It’s hard to get rid of, because it meant something to them at some time.”

Wall-to-Wall gives donors an opportunity to find a new home for their art while raising money for the museum. Donations, or a museum membership, also get you into tonight’s preview from 6 to 9.

The sale officially runs Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Prices of remaining items will be reduced Sunday.

This year’s event features the appraisal services of antique dealer Jane Schultz-Twedt. For a $5 donation, she’ll estimate the value of collectibles brought to the museum Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m.

Donations of artwork, books, magazines and art supplies will be accepted all weekend.

Anderson says he’s excited by the opportunity to move Wall-to-Wall from last year’s location - a vacant Division Street storefront - into Cheney Cowles’ premier exhibition space. “It breaks down the stigma of museum galleries being places of worship,” he says.

Maybe, but that Elvis vest is likely to attract a few worshippers.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 Color Photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WALL-TO-WALL ART Cheney Cowles Museum’s Wallto-Wall Art Sale will be Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 2316 W. First. Museum members and anyone donating art may purchase items during the preview reception tonight from 6 to 9.