ArtEast to host its annual gala, auction

Anyone looking for a great new piece of art and also hoping to support a local non-profit arts organization should mark Oct. 25 on their calendars.

ArtEast will hold its annual artEast Auction at 5 p.m. on Oct. 25 at the Golf Club at Newcastle.

“It is critical to our funding,” artEast Executive Director Karen Abel said. “But we also certainly want it to be a celebration of art.”

The organizers have set a goal of netting $60,000 from the event.Tickets are $94 per person or $1,000 for a table of 10. The event includes appetizers, wine, sit-down dinner and dessert.

Items for auction will include not only artwork, but experiences such as a day in an art studio, music lessons, art retreats and more, Abel said.

“One very wonderful set of art we have available was created at the Burning Man event in Nevada,” she said. Fifteen artEast members went to the event, and stretched a large section of canvas out, inviting the Burning Man community to paint and create collaborations on the canvases. It has been made into 35 pieces of art, complete with Nevada sand embedded in the paint, she said.

Other art work at the auction will be from: Diane Culhane, Jennifer Lommers, June Sekiguchi, Holly Ballard Martz, Ricco diStefano, Liz Ashley, Judie Hansen, Miska, Craig Breitbach, Deby Harvey and others.

ArtEast was founded by a group of artists who wanted to keep the presence of art alive in Issaquah year-round, Abel said. That group wrote a mission, which touches on offering regular exhibits, teaching art workshops and creating “a place for the artistic spirit to flourish.”

“Here we are years later, and that really is what we’re doing and providing,” she said. “We’re also making a transition from ‘Who is artEast’ to becoming a group that’s really out there and active and can make a difference. ... We’re just at that point of blooming or exploding.”

To see auction samples or purchase tickets, visit www.arteast.org.

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