Fundraising gala offers 'mystery' art finds

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The Saint John Arts Centre is gearing up for an annual fundraiser offering art supporters a chance to purchase a piece of mystery.

The centre launched its “Whats in the Box” fundraising campaign in March, which culminates in a gala April 18 featuring a one-night art show. At the show, gala participants can enter a raffle to win the chance to purchase a pizza box for $100 which contains a “mystery” piece of art donated to the fundraiser by local artists, which can include paintings, fabrics, pottery or more.

“There’s a broad variety. We don’t have a theme, so the artists are usually sometimes a bit experimental … some are traditional landscapes, or still lifes, there’s a few portraits,” said Kelly Cunningham, promotion and events coordinator at the centre. “Things you may not expect, you have people who are pleasantly surprised with it, like, I was expecting to go home with a little painting and instead I got a big carved bowl.'”

Cunningham said 80 per cent of the blind-packaged art pieces are paintings, and the centre supplies artists with a six inch by six inch canvas to start. But it’s up to the artist, and items in the past have included framed photo prints, pottery or even a Ukrainian egg, in which case the box contains a certificate, she said. She said the boxes are shelved and tagged, so not even staff know what’s in the box.

She said the fundraiser has been running for more than 14 years, but it took some time off during the pandemic and returned first as an online-only event. The fundraiser generates money to support the centre’s artist rights fees program, which ensures artists are paid for exhibitions, according to Cunningham.

Currently, the centre offers rights fees to exhibiting artists which are currently less than the Canadian Artist Representation (CARFAC) standard but as much as they can afford as a smaller non-profit gallery, she said, and with a 20 per cent commission fee from sales.

“We don’t have deep enough pockets to do CARFAC, we are certainly aiming towards that goal,” she said.

Tickets to the gala are $75, with a partial tax credit available, for a “really lovely cocktail party” featuring catering by Chef’s Table, a bar and a chance to meet participating artists at the show and a chance to see a one-night display of additional artwork for sale.

You can enter the draw as many times as you want, she said, although each ballot represents a commitment to pay the $100 if your name is drawn. As a starting point, according to artworkarchive.com, if an artist charged $20 per linear inch, a 6×6 print would cost $240.

Those contributing include a “mix of emerging and professional artists,” Cunningham said, with 54 signed up at present, including Saint John-born realist painter Herzl Kashetsky.

She said one year she won a piece from Kevin Goggin that was a “neat still-life of a really colourful shoe” the artist saw in a shop window.

She said she enjoys the “glee” of seeing patrons open their boxes, and “I really love it when we can get” photos of the artworks, artists and their recipients together.

“It’s a part of what we want to do to … the introductions that we get to make,” she said. “Sometimes we have a bit of a different crowd … we have some younger folks, we have corporate sponsors, sometimes their employees who haven’t had a chance to go before.”

Trading is allowed to allow the perfect fit and she says sometimes attendees come in groups and trade amongst themselves.

The event runs at 7 p.m. April 18 at the Saint John Arts Centre, and tickets, which are $75 with a $25 tax receipt, can be bought in person, over the phone or online.