Past Events
Years cont.
Textile Art
Artists
When: April 23 - 25
Where: Comox Valley Curling Club
Early in 2020, Bette A. put forward the wonderful idea of holding a sale, Art from the Attic. Donations of art works of all types were requested, and poured in, and Grannies and other volunteers assessed, cleaned and priced the works. Research on the artists was carried out for the most valuable pieces. The Courtenay Legion was booked, and an art sale, combined with music and food sales was ready to go.
Then the pandemic struck.
Undeterred, the Grannies were able to store about 400 carefully wrapped works of art, thanks to the kindness of Diane S, who lent us her basement.
Forward to the spring of 2022. Bette convinced us all that now was the time to hold our long-delayed Art from the Attic sale. The number of art works had now grown to 672 - clearly a much larger venue than the Legion would be needed.
Brilliantly, Joanne C. procured the curling rink for a very reasonable rental, giving us seven days in which to unload, sort and display our art.
So began what was probably the busiest time in the recent history of the Glacier Grannies! Inspired by Bette and Joanne C. (neither of whom slept for a fortnight), the Grannies worked with a will. In five days, 672 pieces of art were unwrapped, checked and, if necessary, cleaned. Recent donations were assessed, and priced, and provenance was researched for the more valuable pieces. Fifty tables were set up, stands and easels were made and lent, and the works displayed according to their price, medium, subject matter or country of origin.
An extensive publicity campaign was launched, and Grannies put the word out to friends, relatives and colleagues.
The Grannies pulled it off: by Saturday, April 23, the curling rink looked magnificent, and at 9:00 a queue of customers was waiting outside the door. For 2 and half days (on Monday morning, works were sold at half price), a cheerful crowd of buyers crowded the curling rink. When the sale was over, we had sold 452 pieces of art. 7 of these were sold by silent auction, raising $1,475.
Art from the Attic was the most successful fundraiser in our history! We earned $14,226,50 for the Campaign ($13,857.50 in sales and $369 in donations). In addition, as Joanne C says, “something else happened at the sale itself. That something was the feeling of joy we experienced listening to the guests tell their stories about what the art meant to them, a friend or family member. Those personal, human connections created an atmosphere which money could not buy and I believe our sisters in Africa would be proud of us.”
Of the remaining art works, one is at Lunds Auction House in Victoria, 209 were donated to local charities and the remainder have been kept for our next event.
The Glacier Grannies would like to thank everyone who generously donated works of art for our sale. The quality and variety were amazing!
Thank you also to the following for so willingly stepping up to help us with our sale:
Mason Walker of Remax, who has been our sponsor for many years.
Linda Vanneste who allowed us to take over her apartment for the sorting, appraising and cleaning of the original donations. She even provided soup and sandwiches as the Grannies worked.
Diane Stewart who stored all our art works for two years.
The Comox Valley Curling Club, and in particular Keith and Joanna.
Larry from the Curling Club for the wonderful meals and refreshments from his café.
Courtenay Little Theatre for printing our bookmarks.
Comox Valley Exhibition for lending us 50 tables.
Mike Morrisey from Comox Valley Rural District for helping with parking arrangements and donating 2 boxes of hand sanitizer.
The cheerful folk from St. John’s Ambulance who attended each day.
Our ever-helpful Vanier students: Telse, Sage, Jasmin, Alejandra, JJ and Jaya who were always willing to run errands.
The following helped us appraise the art works that were donated:
The following helped us display our art professionally:
The following helped us advertise our sale:
Many Grannies helped with this wonderful project. Thank you to all of the following:
Bette, the glue that held this mammoth project together: she held the vision for this project from its inception, for more than two years, with her eye always on the goal. Bette inspired us to step up and make it a success. In the evenings, after sales closed, she continued to work countless hours at her computer.
Joanne C, contact dealer extraordinaire: in particular the venue, tables, CVRD, St John’s ambulance and the Vanier Students. And for recognizing every situation that needed an extra pair of hands to make sure the job was complete.
Dianne S. for storing the art for two years.
Barb T. and Sandy H., our co-chairs: for the many hats they wore, including preplanning, and a spectacular display for our guests to browse.
Susan S. and Francine N. for collecting display items, signage and helping everywhere a set of hands was needed.
Ann G. you name it she did it, nonstop through the entire process.
Joanne W. for training the cashiers and tracking the money, and creating the unexpected additional catalogue with Joanne C.
Francine N. , Iris S., Carol C., Lydia R., Dianne W., Sandy H., Joanne R., Carol K., Lisa M., Barbara L., Kate R., and Joyce G. for cashier duties, and assisting customers with their purchases.
Virginia P., Maybeth H., Claire D., Pat P., Ardith C. and Judith H. for their sleuthing skills in hunting for art provenance.
Virginia P. for preparing the publicity blueprint.
Jeannie M. for jumping right into publicity.
Pat P. for poster and bookmark distribution and Facebook updates.
Raymond S. and Virginia P. for website updates.
Dianne W. for sponsor contact and signage.
Kathy N. for appraisals and knowledge of art pieces.
Maybeth H., Shelley M., Lydia R., Lisa M., Claire D., Sandy H., Kate R., and Joanne R. for the hours spent labeling, cleaning and prepping art pieces.
Kelly K. for graphics.
Jane S. for making nametags.
Many people helped in a variety of roles from poster distribution, art transportation, greeting, overseers of art locations, the SLF table, storage and packaging, clean up, wrapping & recycling: Susan S., Francine N., Kathy N., Kate R, Lisa M., Joyce G., Maxine B., Donna G., Barb F., Jane S., Carol C., Carol D., Lydia R., Iris S., Carol K, Marilyn B., Sylvia D’A., Judith H., Pat A., Barbara L., Gillian F., Gail E., Virginia P., and Maybeth H.
Husbands Dwayne, James, Barry, John, Steve & Del: they were always there when where we needed them and their vehicles.
Help relieve the suffering from HIV and AIDS today and donate to the Stephen Lewis Foundation.
Individually hand-crafted by a group of Glacier Grannies, these beautiful Angels are a wonderful keepsake or gift.
Each Angel comes with a personalized name card which explains the work of the Grandmothers to Grandmothers campaign.
