Conference Closeup: Silent Auction Benefits A&C Research

by Kate Nixon

 

So many studies to conduct, so many books to write – and you can help fund them! At the 32nd National Arts & Crafts Conference at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, you can bid and participate in our Silent Auction, a fundraiser for The Arts & Crafts Research Fund. Located in the 8th Floor of Vanderbuilt Wing next to the ticket booth, attendees can compete for the highest bid as they peruse a selection of Arts & Crafts items, donated from exhibitors and attendees.

 

 

100% of the Silent Auction proceeds will go to fund The Arts & Crafts Research Fund, a non-profit established by National Arts & Crafts Conference Director Bruce Johnson with the goal of providing financial assistance to researchers and writers involved in the Arts & Crafts Movement. The grants typically range between $2,000 and $4,000.

In addition to supporting a good cause, a participant could receive a quality Arts and Crafts item supplied by knowledgeable sources – and for a lower price. “You can get a great bargain when you bid on our auction items,” says Johnson. “These donated items come right from Antiques and Contemporary dealers as well as our experienced attendees” Featuring Items ranging from books to textiles to pottery to jewelry, our silent auction can offer you a great item that you can give a second life to.

Last year, folks bid in hopes for a deal on antique pots, a handknitted blanket and scarves, vintage postcards, shelving units, Roycroft Dinner plates, woodblock prints, a rare Fulper vase, and more. This year, we’ve already got woodblock prints, books, and three copies of Gustav Stickley’s “The Craftsman” and more – help us make this Silent Auction an impressive and memorable event by giving your Arts & Crafts items in the closet a new life with another collector!

 

 

Here are just some of the different projects that your bids helped to fund in 2018:

  • Digitizing and organizational software to help put a museum’s collection on an online portal, providing availability of pictures and documents to researchers.
  • a study of the Famille Rose glazes of Fulper Pottery
  • a study of Craftsman magazine editor Eloise Roorbach (this study turned into a Display Case in the Great Hall that you can see during the 2019 Conference!)
  • the creation of a series of postcards that show the Arts & Crafts history of a town in Virginia

 

Here’s how to participate in the Silent Auction:

The Silent Auction will be open Friday, February 15th at the opening of the Exhibitor Shows and will close Saturday evening at the end of the shows. The auction is available for anyone with a Conference Events Pass or Show admission. The Silent Auction is located on the 8th floor of the Vanderbilt Wing next to the Knock on Wood Publications booth. Take a left after you exit the Glass Elevator to the 8th Floor.

 

Here’s how to donate to the Silent Auction:

The Silent Auction donation form is located in the Pre-Conference Information you received if you have purchased a Grove Park Inn package or Conference Event Pass. Fill it out and send it to us in the mail. Alternatively, you can email us at [email protected] and let us know what you would like to donate and we will be in contact.

 

We’ll see you in February at the Omni Grove Park Inn for the 32nd National Arts & Crafts Conference!

/by /