GPI Conference Package, Memberships and VIP Tours Offered In Evening of Celebration
by Kate Nixon
Memberships to beloved museums around the country, a VIP tour at Winterthur, and a two-night stay at the Grove Park Inn during the National Arts and Crafts Conference and Shows: these are just a few of the many items available to bid on in the upcoming reverse auction at next month’s Harvest Party!
As part of an annual flagship fundraiser for The Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms, the newly named Harvest Party will celebrate 35 years of the Stickley Museum at the Raritan Inn in Califon, New Jersey on October 5th. The Harvest Party will additionally be the evening celebration of the grand re-opening of the Stickley Museum, a reopening years in the making after suffering the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and damage to the Log House property in 2020. After a day of celebrating members, the Harvest Party will feature among the evening’s activities a reverse auction — and those who can’t make it to the party can place an absentee bid!
Support the Stickley Museum at the Harvest Party
Make a Reverse Auction Absentee Bid at the Stickley Museum’s Harvest Party here.
What is a Reverse Auction?
The finale of the Harvest Party will be the Reverse Auction (sometimes called a paddle raise). In a Reverse Auction, instead of bidding in competition, attendees bid in community—at any level they choose, from $50 to $50,000—pooling their funds in support of a shared cause.
Stickley Museum Executive Director Vonda Givens says this year’s event is extra celebratory given the museum’s final re-opening to the public. “This year’s Member Day and our annual fundraising event, newly christened The Harvest Party, on Sat., Oct. 5, are arriving right at the moment we are fully re-opening the museum for the first time since the pandemic closure in March 2020,” says Givens. “We are ready to celebrate the completion of construction on the Annex and Log House Kitchen, our strong community of supporters across North America, and 35 years of the Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms! I hope you’ll celebrate with us!”
The proceeds of the night will support the daily operations of the museum, ensuring ongoing preservation and protection of Craftsman Farms, collections care, a robust calendar of programs, and much more. In a recent Zoom event during last month’s online conference Arts & Crafts In August, Givens along with other board members of the Stickley Museum showed the progress of the new Log Cabin kitchen and captured the four years of hard work the museum had undergone since the devastation of 2020.
The following is a sample of the lots up for bid during the reverse auction.
1. A two-night stay at the Historic Grove Park Inn during the 38th National Arts and Crafts Conference and Shows February 21st – 23rd.
The 38th National Arts and Crafts Conference will make its annual return to the Grove Park Inn in
Asheville, North Carolina February 21st – 23rd. Thrilling collectors and Arts & Crafts enthusiasts since 1988, this yearly conference and shows celebrates the first truly American style with educational seminars, Small Group Discussion sessions, demonstrations, historic tours, Pre-Conference Workshops, and the 38th National Arts and Crafts Shows offering vintage Arts and Crafts antiques, as well as handcrafted contemporary items in the Arts and Crafts style, including new and antique jewelry, rugs, furniture, pottery, tiles, artwork, furniture, and metalware. The two-night stay package includes
– a choice of room (historic main inn or modern room in the Vanderbilt or Sammons wing for your Friday and Saturday night stay*;
– Continental breakfasts Saturday and Sunday mornings;
– Dessert and Coffee social hours Friday and Saturday nights;
– Early entry to all three exhibitor shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday;
– Access to all seminars, discussion groups, demonstrations, Grove Park Inn tours, and special exhibits;
– Conference tote bag and the 38th National Arts and Crafts Conference catalog.
Extra nights can be added ($192.00 per night) at cost to winner.
- Package of VIP Tours to The Delaware Art Museum and Winterthur Museum, Gardens, and Library
Enjoy a VIP experience in Wilmington, Delaware with private tours (for up to 4 adults) of the Pre-Raphaelite Collection at the Delaware Art Museum and Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library!
Take a private tour of the Delaware Art Museum’s extraordinary collection of British Pre-Raphaelite art, the largest and most significant collection of its kind in the United States, with the collection’s Curator Dr. Sophie Lynford, author of Painting Dissent: Art, Ethics, and the American Pre-Raphaelites.
Enjoy a day at Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library with a custom package put together especially for us. The package includes an exclusive tour of Winterthur Library’s Arts and Crafts collections with Library Director Rebecca Parmer and a private, behind-the-scenes tour of the Winterthur house, focusing on Arts and Crafts collection objects, with Dr. Catharine Dann Roeber, Associate Professor of Decorative Arts and Material Culture at Winterthur. Finally, the winning bidder will receive tickets to the museum to explore H.F. Dupont’s breathtaking home and gardens and current exhibitions in the Winterthur Galleries.
For up to four adults. The date and time must be arranged in advance. The winning bidder will be put in touch with the DAM and Winterthur staff to make arrangements.
Support the Stickley Museum at the Harvest Party
Make a Reverse Auction Absentee Bid at the Stickley Museum’s Harvest Party here.
3. Basket of Memberships to Arts and Crafts Landmark Sites
Because Membership Matters! Show your support for Arts and Crafts Landmarks around the United States with this bundle of Memberships from your favorite sites.
- One year Family Membership for the Roycroft Campus Corporation in East Aurora, NY
- One Year Dual Membership for the Museum of the American Arts & Crafts Movement in St. Petersburg, FL
- One year Household Membership for The Gamble House in Pasadena, CA, plus The Gamble House tile by Motawi Tile
The offerings listed above are just a few of the many lots for bid. The full program will be released by The Stickley Museum next week. In the meantime, Givens invites all enthusiasts and supporters of the Stickley legacy to be involved in the celebration. “I hope to see you at the Party, but wherever you are on Oct. 5, I invite you to be a part of our day of celebration! Please consider an absentee bid in the evening’s Reverse Auction. We want to raise $200,000 to support our mission and the work we do every day of the year. We can reach this goal with your help. And don’t forget: Very generous donors, inspired by our 35th Anniversary, are matching donations at four levels: $135, $350, $1350 and $3500!”
Support the Stickley Museum at the Harvest Party
Make a Reverse Auction Absentee Bid at the Stickley Museum’s Harvest Party here.