Art Auction 2012: California Art Lounge Grosses $182,000 for Laguna Art Museum
2012 is off to a great start at the Laguna Art Museum, with new executive director Dr. Malcolm Warner in place and the Feb. 4 successful art auction far surpassing last year.
For this year’s auction, the museum transformed itself into an art lounge, complete with an open bar, food from a variety of top local restaurants, live art demonstrations and an after party with dancing and a DJ. The result was a 35 percent increase in attendance, with 584 guests at this year’s event. Of course, the major success was a $50,000 increase over last year’s fundraising total; the 2012 event raised approximately $182,000. Fourteen of the 106 works sold at or above value, and 47 of the participating artists were in attendance at the Saturday night event.
The top three works sold included “Summer Séance” by Tony DeLap for $17,000, “The Electric Fields II” by Theodore Svenningsen for $12,000, and “Blitz (Study One)” by James Verbicky for $7,150. Proceeds will benefit the museum’s education and exhibition programs.
—Micaela Myers
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