Auction-goer Wendy Weyerhaeuser celebrates the win of a live auction item at the 2012 Red Hot fundraiser at the Museum of Glass.
The 2012 Museum of Glass fundraiser known as the Red Hot Party & Auction wrapped up on Saturday, September 22, 2012, in with a respectable $630,000 raised. A total of 114 works of glass art, wine packages, jewelry and experiences went up for live and silent auctions. The funds raised will support the Tacoma, Washington, museum’s exhibition, education, and visiting artist programs.
The $10,000 prize and a week of visiting artist residency was awarded to Armelle Bouchet O’Neill for her work Landscape in Black (2012). Blown and sandblasted glass, it has a diameter of 15 inches.
The museum kept its novel format of a juried auction, which it introduced in 2010. A jury made up of independent curator Margery Aronson; Linda Tesner, director and curator of the Ronna and Eric Hoffman Gallery of Contemporary Art, at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon; and Patricia Watkinson, retired executive director of Pilchuck Glass School awarded the grand prize of $10,000 to Armelle Bouchet O’Neill from Seattle, who also received a week-long visiting artist residency at the museum’s hot shop.
Raven Skyriver swept the Artists Choice and Peoples’ Choice awards for his work, entitled Migration (2012). A former member of the William Morris team, Skyriver frequently depicts figures from nature in his work.
The Artists’ Choice award, determined by votes from Red Hot contributing artists, and People’s Choice, chosen by the evening’s guests were given to the same artist: Raven Skyriver from Stanwood, WA, was the recipient of both honors, earning two $5,000 cash awards and two week-long hot shop residencies.
Museum of Glass founders Dr. Phil and Gwen Phibbs and Leslie and Dale Chihuly photographed at the first-ever fundraiser “After Party in the Hot Shop.”
The Museum of Glass rolled out a new feature of its fundraiser, an “After Party in the Hot Shop” event that featured Dale Chihuly, Joey Kirkpatrick, Flora C. Mace and James Mongrain, who teamed up to create a Soft Cylinder following the live auction. The piece was auctioned off the pipe with proceeds going to the Museum. Also, in recognition of the Museum’s tenth anniversary, the museum’s founders, Dr. Phil and Gwen Phibbs, were honored, and the decanter centerpieces were stamped with a commemorative medallion made by the museum’s own hot shop crew. Each decanter was filled with Glass Vodka provided by Ian MacNeil of Seattle’s Glass Distillery.
“We are overwhelmed by the generosity of the donors, friends and artists who support Museum of Glass,” Museum of Glass executive director Susan Warner said in a prepared statement. “The funds we raised from this fabulous event will help us build on our success by embracing a bold strategy for innovation for the next decade and beyond. Cheers to the next ten years at MOG!”