This weekend at the Powerhouse, the Department of Art and Art History presents the annual Holiday Art Gala fundraiser featuring works across several mediums by local artists, including Ole Miss students and faculty. This yearly event raises money for the department and includes an “artist drawdown,” silent auction, general sale, local vendor booths and cash bar.
The featured artists for the 2018 gala include painters Brooke Alexander, Philip Jackson and Robert Malone, ceramicists Mike Cinelli and William McKinney, sculptor Durant Thompson and photographer Brooke White.
“The Department of Art and Art History is extremely excited about this event,” said Joshua Brinlee, who coordinated the event. “Each year it is our main fundraiser allowing us to fund visiting artists, gallery exhibition and student events.”
Besides just raising money, the gala is an opportunity for the community to purchase artworks from students and faculty members. The silent auction consists of art pieces that are set aside specifically for the community to bid on during the event.
“It also allows us to display student and faculty artwork which is something we as a department take pride in,” Brinlee said. The whole department has been working endlessly on this event to make it a success.”
The “artist drawdown” takes place on Friday and features work by faculty members. Similar to a raffle, a limited number of tickets will be sold from 1 to 8 p.m. on Friday.
At 8 p.m., the “artist drawdown” will begin. Ticket numbers will be called out, and the first winner will get his or her first choice of the featured artwork. Tickets will be drawn until each piece is selected.
The three-day event also consists of a general sale made up of local vendors’ booths. The sale runs on Friday from 1 to 9 p.m., Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 12 to 5 p.m.
