SPRINGFIELD – The Visual Arts Gallery at the University of Illinois at Springfield will hold its 17th Annual Benefit and Silent Auction fundraiser Wednesday, December 5, through Friday, December 7. Art and crafts in every medium – including paintings, drawings, prints, ceramics, and photography – will be on display for silent bids each day in the gallery, located in room 201 of the Health and Sciences Building on the UIS campus. The event concludes Friday evening with a reception and final bidding from 5:30 to 8 p.m. in the gallery. The reception is free and open to the public.
Gallery manager Morgan Carroll said that donations of artwork will be accepted through December 4. Inclusion of donated items is subject to approval by the faculty of UIS' Visual Arts program.
The auction is the gallery's only fundraiser and all proceeds are used to support future exhibitions. The 2007 fall season included "Topological Synapses," abstract, three-dimensional works by Transylvanian painter Ioan Florea; "Faces of Paris," photographs by Mary Alice Johnston; and "Hecho en Cuba," mixed-media prints by English-born artist Philip Hartigan.
Regular gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Contact Morgan by phone at 206-6506 or by e-mail at visarts-ga@uis.edu for more information or to arrange to drop off a donation.
