Last week, the YS Senior Center’s Fireplace Room was filled with works of art: A small marble statue was nestled in a corner. A pair of colorful feet with sprigs of paper sprouting from their tops sat on the mantle. A floral oil painting glowed from a wall over the hearth, facing dozens of other drawings, paintings and fiber works.
By next week, those works will have moved to the Mills Park Hotel for the Senior Center’s first-ever Ageless Art Auction, where community members are invited to gather, spend time with neighbors and take part in a little friendly competition, bidding to take home works by well-known Miami Valley artists.
The Ageless Art Auction will be held Thursday, Feb. 19, 6:30–9 p.m., at the Mills Park Hotel. Tickets are $50 in advance and $75 at the door.
Speaking with the News last week, Senior Center Executive Director Caroline Mullin said the upcoming event grew out of a fundraising committee conversation, with local resident and committee member Jim Johnson suggesting the idea.
“He’s successfully done art auctions in his bed and breakfast,” Mullin said. “Around the table, we just started talking about different artists we had ideas of in town, and it just sort of quickly evolved.”
Mullin said Jim and Libby Hammond, former owners of Mills Park Hotel, had previously offered support if the Senior Center needed it, and the hotel’s event space seemed like a perfect spot for the fundraiser.
“They said, ‘Whatever you want, we’ll take care of it,’” Mullin said.
Yellow Springs being as artist-rich — and, Mullin said, as generous — as it is, the Senior Center had a plethora of donated works quickly lined up for the show. Many pieces were donated directly by artists, many of whom have ties to the Senior Center as members, collaborators or supporters; others come from personal collections.
The week she spoke with the News, in fact, Mullin said she was still receiving offers of donated works.
“I told them, ‘Next year,’” she said. “There’s been a lot of enthusiasm.”
Local connoisseurs of art will likely recognize the artist signatures on the 39 works up for auction: Chris Glaser, Jennifer Berman, Nancy Mellon, Naysan McIlhargey, Anthony Maughan, and the late Eddie Eckenrode, to name a few. There’s a large floral oil painting, “Night Garden 2,” from Katherine Kadish, whose retrospective is currently on display at The Winds; a small marble sculpture by Jon Barlow Hudson — a model from his “Etruscan Manaeds” series; and an oil pastel, “Ancestral Spirit Dance (Study)” from famed Dayton artist Willis “Bing” Davis. Mullin noted that one work, donated from a private collection, is a pastel by former villager Julie Karlson, whose work is no longer typically available for sale.
“I can’t imagine another senior center could say, ‘We’re going to auction art,’ and come up with a collection like this,” Mullin said.
Most of the artwork will be sold via silent auction, with a handful of pieces designated for live bidding during the evening.
“We’re going to pick maybe three or four items for live auction,” Mullin said. “It keeps people around, and it’s just fun to watch what happens. So even if people don’t plan to buy art, they should still come.”
She added that many of the artists whose work will be up for bid will be in attendance, so folks can talk to them about their inspiration, style and techniques.
One of those present will be fiber artist Pam Geisel, who serves as the Senior Center’s marketing manager. She said the auction also reflects the Senior Center’s relationship with local art collective Village Artisans and its attendant artists, several of whom donated to the event.
“When Village Artisans wasn’t able to have Art on the Lawn [at Mills Lawn] for a couple of years, we were hosting it at the Senior Center land [near Antioch College],” Geisel said. “Afterward, a lot of people were asking how they could thank the center. This was a really natural answer.”
One of Geisel’s art quilts, “Picnic at Ellis Pond,” is up for auction; as its name suggests, the colorful art quilt, stitched with intricate free-motion-style textures, depicts a sunny day at Ellis Pond, with black-eyed Susans in the foreground and the park’s telltale willows in the distance.
“The quilt is part of a series I did of art quilt scenes from around Yellow Springs,” Geisel said. “I picked that particular view because I thought the willow trees would make it really identifiable as Ellis Pond.”
Proceeds from the auction will support the Senior Center’s operations, Mullin said, as the organization aims to respond to growing community need for services.
“We’re hiring right now,” she said. “We really need to increase our staffing to cover the increased needs around here.”
Mullin added that capacity at the auction event is limited to 125, and encouraged those who are interested to purchase tickets early. She also encouraged folks to bring their own creative energy to the event.
“We’ve told people the dress code is ‘show us your style,’” Mullin said. “We’re hoping to see some pretty fun outfits — maybe something someone hasn’t had a chance to wear in a while.”
Ticket information and a full list of artists and available works for the Ageless Art Auction can be found at www.ysseniors.org/art-auction.html
