SIDNEY — Gateway Arts Council’s (GAC) annual Bad Art Ball will be Oct. 1 in the Palazzo in Botkins.
“No election would be complete without a ball and the Bad Art Election is no exception,” said GAC Director Ellen Keyes. The event will include a social hour from 6:30 to 7 p.m., dinner at 7 p.m. and an auction of artworks at 8 p.m. There will be a cash bar.
Tickets to the Bad Art Ball cost $25 each. They are available at the arts council offices, 216 N. Miami Ave., and online at www.gatewayartscouncil.org.
Since August, 24 veterans have been learning to paint. Ann Asher, Kelly Walker, Jo Ellen Mason, Mike Behr, Lori Stallings, Maureen O’Keefe, Mila Hamilton, Pat Elsass and Mike Elsass, all professional artists, served as mentors.
Each veteran has completed an artwork. Those paintings have been garnering votes, at $1 per vote, from the artists’ friends and acquaintances. The artist of the painting that has received the most votes by the end of the dinner will be declared the winner.
All the paintings will then be up for auction, to be called by Shelby County Sheriff John Lenhart and auctioneer Justin Vondenhuevel. Proceeds will benefit GAC programs and, if enough is raised, the Veterans Administration Hospice in Dayton. Once Gateway Arts Council nets its funding goal of $10,000, 50 percent of anything above that amount will be given to the VA Hospice.
“We’d like to do significantly above ($10,000). We’d like to write a nice check to the VA,” Keyes said.
The funds are raised from ball admissions, the auction of the paintings and votes.
“Online voting for your favorite bad artist will continue right up until 5 p.m. on Oct. 1,” Keyes said. Votes and donations will also be accepted at the arts council offices, where the paintings are on display until Oct 1.
“If you cannot attend the ball but would like to participate in the auction, there is absentee bidding,” Keyes said. “Just call Gateway Arts Council at 498-2787 before 5 p.m. on Oct. 1, list the artists whose pieces you would like to bid on and the top prices you would like to bid for them and a Gateway representative will bid for you. You will be notified if you were the top bidder.”
As of Thursday evening, the artists and their standings were as follows: Jon Baker, $54; Woody Joslin, $156; Kathy Hayes, $353; Glenn Phillips, $695; Dave Easton, $59; Mike Bennett, $155; Chad Gessler, $39; Patricia Hamburg, $124; Tom Kinninger, $245; Dick Snider, $274; Larry Spence, $39; Duane Mullen, $251; Jerry Kauffman, $302; Jim Moorman, $288; Joe Spangler, $227; Tim Sell, $95; Rich Wade, $16; John Adams, $53; Keith Putnam, $21; JoEllen Mason, $84; Chris North, $203; Roger Lentz, $23; Darrell Spangler, $88; Rob Thorne, $230.
“The totals change hourly,” Keyes said. “It’s a real horse race. Some artists get their votes in the beginning. Some get them at the end. And some of them bring their votes to the ball.”
She added that votes don’t in any way reflect the quality of work.
“It’s just a fun way to raise money,” Keyes said.
This is the fifth year for the popular program and Keyes noted that every year, there are stories that come with the artworks. The stories this year, she said, are different.
“We themed the project this year so we could exhibit the paintings at the (Week of Valor exhibit of the replica Vietnam Memorial wall). The theme was Service to Country. By the sheer nature of the theme, there were a few more stories. I won’t ever be the same after the people I’ve met through this, this year. I will never take freedom — or peace — for granted. You know you’re in the presence of greatness (when you talk with these veterans), and everyone who comes into the gallery feels that,” Keyes said.
