Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 8, 1992 TAG: 9202080053
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JUDITH SCHWAB
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
A CREATIVE EVENING
On Feb. 22, you can get all dressed up, have a fancy dinner, buy original works of art and deduct the whole thing.Virginia Tech's art department is holding its third annual Artstravaganza that evening at the Commonwealth Ballroom in Squires Student Center. Works of art will be auctioned to fund an endowed foundation scholarship for art students. Artists selling their work at the auction receive 50 percent of the sale price.
The event begins at 5 p.m. with a preview reception and cocktails - black tie is optional. Valet parking and coat check will be provided by the Tech Corps of Cadets.
The dinner - at $50 a plate - will be served in a French, Left Bank setting. Music will be provided by the music department, and the department of theater arts will light the artwork. After dinner the artwork will be auctioned.
There will also be a paint-in. Guests will be able to express themselves by dabbing some paint onto a canvas. An artist then will "pull it all together," said Derek Myers, head of the art department. It will be auctioned off as well, Myers said.
A raffle will be held for two round-trip, coach-class air tickets to anywhere in the continental United States. Tickets are $25. For $100 your name goes into the pot five times. If you'd just like to buy raffle tickets, call the art department. You need not be present at the drawing to win.
The 53 pieces of art up for auction represent student, faculty and regional artists. Such area notables as Joni Pienkowski of Blacksburg, Z.L. Feng of Radford and Jack Jeffers of Radford have work for sale in the auction.
Work by nationally recognized folk artist Howard Finster also is in the auction. Two prints, "Mytrant" and "Elvis at 3 1/2 Years," usually sell in the $600 to $1,100 range. These prints were produced exclusively for the Mountain Lake Art Workshop, and the artist's proceeds will be donated to the workshop.
Eric Schuttler, a senior in the art department, won the $1,000 scholarship provided from last year's auction funds. The poster for the Artstravaganza was designed by Schuttler and shows his painting from last year's auction. Signed copies of the poster will be available for $10. Schuttler will have new work in the auction.
Most of the pieces in the auction are paintings. They range from Myers' own abstract watercolor of quiet square shapes standing on end to the highly realistic "Red Trillium," an egg tempera by Galax artist Lona Cox.
Pat Bevan's "Summer Garden" in oil pastels is lush with color. Bevan recently had one of her pastels chosen for reproduction in an internationally distributed artists' materials catalog.
Faculty member Robert Fields has a small watercolor in the auction collection. His entry last year now is touring in the National Watercolor Society's 71st Annual Juried Exhibition. Fields recently was elected to the National Watercolor Society, Myers said.
An unusual portrait opportunity is available at the Artstravaganza. Roanoker Anne Bell creates life-size portrait cutouts. These are done on plywood and are free-standing or can be mounted on walls. The example in the collection is in three pieces - a woman holding a basket of flowers, a small boy on a tricycle and a little girl clutching a doll.
Potters are represented: Sylvie Granatelli and Bruce Gholson from Floyd are offering porcelain fish platters.
Granatelli's is turquoise patterned, drape-molded, glazed and incised. The piece is long and fish-narrow.
Gholson's round platter is hand-thrown and decorated in a glaze-on-glaze with black and white fish.
Several jewelers also are represented in the show. Faith Capone uses traditional materials in untraditional ways. She offers a broach in 14-karat gold and silver with copper and garnet.
Ali Wieboldt combines acrylic with palm seed ivory, sterling silver and semiprecious stone in a pin containing a miniature portrait of an animal.
Janet Quackenbush steers clear of metals and presents a necklace, pin and earrings in hand-built porcelain. The result - bright red and metallic glazed geometric shapes combined with folded-fabric shapes and textures.
Artwork for the auction is on display at Perspective Gallery in Squires until the event, when it will be moved to the auction site.
Prospective buyers may leave written bids at the gallery. Copies of the auction catalog containing artists' biographies are available at the gallery.
If you cannot attend the auction but would like to phone in a bid, call Robert Miller at Miller and Main Street Gallery in Blacksburg at 552-6969.
Checks, cash and credit cards are welcome. Plan to take the work home with you, if possible.
For additional information call the art department at 231-5547.