Art aid

Barbara Diamond

An Artist starving in a garret is a cliche.

But cliches become cliches because they are truisms.

“Artists don’t usually have health or business insurance, so in

times of need, it is important that there is someplace we can turn,”

artist Maggie Spencer said.

The 18th annual auction to raise funds for needy Laguna Beach

artists will be held at noon, Sunday on the main entertainment deck

of the Sawdust Festival grounds, 935 Laguna Canyon Road. Al l

proceeds from the live auction will go to the festival’s Artist

Benevolence Fund

Artists were particularly hard hit in 1993 and 1998, the years

that fire, flood and landslides devastated Laguna Beach, but the fund

assists those in need every year.

Spencer has been an exhibitor at the festival for 12 years and has been donating to the fund from the beginning.

“Many of the Sawdust’s exhibitors donate works of art to the

auction and many exhibitors volunteer on the day of the event, doing

everything from signing in bidders to modeling fashions,” fund

trustee Sherry Bullard said.

Bullard, John Eagle and Mike Heintz administer the fund.

“The auction runs from noon to 4 p.m. and anyone on the grounds

can bid,” Heintz said. “They can sign in at the greeter’s table and

get a bid card and an explanation of how to bid, if they haven’t done

it before.

“It is a well orchestrated event.”

There will be plenty of items from which to choose.

“Last year, we ran nonstop for four straight hours without taking

a breath and we still had stuff left over,” Heintz said. “We raised

somewhere in the area of $15,000.”

Donations to the auction range from original paintings to

one-of-a-kind jewelry, ceramics and clothing.

“I always enjoy participating in the auction,” professional

auctioneer Tony DeZago said. “There is a great variety of art up for

bid. And the cause is near and dear to everyone who participates, so

there is a great vibe at the event.”

Artists helping artists is not a new notion in Laguna.

Embers from the 1993 fire were practically still glowing when

former Festival of Arts board member Roark Gourley began to organize

an auction of donated art to raise funds for artists whose studios,

homes and inventories went up in flames.

Art-A-Fair holds a silent auction every year, with donations from

participating artists. The proceeds benefit Art-A-Fair Foundation and

the board decides on the distribution, according to Floyd O’Neil,

fair vice president of marketing.

“Last year, the foundation assisted an artist who lost her home in

a fire in Lake Arrowhead,” O’Neil said.

The Festival of Arts holds two events a year to raise money for

its Artists in Need Fund. To be eligible for assistance, the artist

must live in Laguna Beach or have exhibited in the festival.

“At the beginning of the season, each exhibitor selects a work to

be donated, identified by a gold sticker” festival marketing and

public relations director Sharbie Higuchi said. “If the work is sold

during the festival season, the sales price goes to the fund.”

The festival also has hosted Tie One On since 2002 to raise funds

for its artists who have suffered economic or health setbacks.

Each year, artists are given blank white ties on which to create

an original work of art. The ties are auctioned -- this year on July

17. The auction raised $13,445.

Festival exhibitor Anne England proposed a fund for needy artists

more than 10 years ago. The festival board approved it four years ago

on the recommendation of Exhibit Committee Chair Dianne Reardon.

“The first time out it was grumble, grumble, grumble,” England

said. “We had 11 entries, but when the other artists saw it, they

said ‘Huh, I can do that.’

“I knew that would happen -- that’s how artists are -- and since

then the participation has been great. This year was wonderful.”

Buyers not only get a piece of original art, they can deduct the

price from their income tax, England said. Donating artists get

nothing out of the program but the satisfaction of helping fellow

artists.

England was inspired to promote the need for a special fund when

an artist friend in Laguna Beach was diagnosed with cancer and given

a year to live. Money was raised to make it possible for the artist

to live out her life at home.

“It is horrible enough to go through the [chemotherapy], the

operations and experimental procedures, which I did, without having

the stress of money worries,” said England, a cancer survivor.

“Fortunately, I was covered by insurance and the love and support of

the artists’ community and my church. Not every one is.”

Tie One On was originally a Laguna School of Art and Design

project.

“I took it from them and refined it,” England said.

She chairs and administers the fund.

The notion of giving artists in a variety of media the same

concept with which to make their statement rocked the cradle of the

Laguna Art Museum’s annual art auction.

For the first auction, unsolicited artists were sent plain brown

paper bags on which to create a work that was to be donated to the

museum for a fund-raiser. Local artists, including the late Andy

Wing, responded to an unexpected degree. The auction raised $10,000,

less than a single piece of Wing’s work would bring today, but

thrilling to museum officials of that time. And every penny went to

the museum.

In subsequent years, mailing tubes and a yard of canvas were

distributed. Works for the latter ranged from garden scenes to the

ocean -- “Laguna’s Back Yard.”

The festival’s blank ties may level the playing field, but it

elevates the artists’ ingenuity.

“It makes people stretch out of their own medium,” England said.

“Artists are a very competitive bunch.”

For more information about the Sawdust Festival auction, or to

make a donation to the Artists Benevolence Fund, call (949) 494-3030.