August 10-11, 2012

Here's the next in an ongoing series of Penland Benefit Auction newsletters, featuring artists whose work will be a part of this year's auction. We have invited trustees, staff members, collectors, and friends to write about pieces that will be included in the summer 2012 benefit event and to comment on living with the works they have purchased in past auctions.

A few words from Mike Davis, Penland's director of development, about the 2012 Benefit Auction Fund-a-Need, equipment for our soon-to-be-built new drawing/painting and book arts studios...

An architectural cross section of Penland's new drawing/painting and book arts studio.

When Penland built the Paul Hayden Duensing Letterpress and Print Studio in 2007, it was the first part of a carefully planned two-phase project to create new workspaces for our printmaking, letterpress, book arts, drawing, and painting classes. We are pleased to announce that the second part of the project is underway: major construction funding has been pledged, and the school is working closely with architect Susan Cannon to complete the original vision for the studio complex. The new building will be named in honor of Sam and Jewel Phillips, founders of the Samuel L. Phillips Family Foundation. This local family foundation, a leader in community arts education, is partnering with Penland School to support this new studio. Robyn and John Horn and her family have also contributed major support for this studio.

  

Here's how the new studio will fit in with the existing letterpress and printmaking studios.

With construction funding secured, we will now turn to our generous auction patrons for help to equip these new spaces so that we can give our students (including, we hope, many of you) the highest-quality educational and artistic experience possible.

 

Penland's drawing and painting classes have been held for years in ad-hoc facilities without adequate space, proper ventilation, or appropriate lighting. The strength and popularity of drawing and painting classes has been growing steadily in recent years.

Drawing, painting, and color theory are arguably at the heart of all studio practice, and are taught here as a cross-studio opportunity for students, with classes serving the needs of artists drawing or painting with glazes in clay, dyes in textiles, enamels in metals, or carving in wood, as well as those engaged in image-making for it's own challenges and pleasures. 
    

Book arts classes currently share a studio with papermaking; while they are certainly closely related, one is a dry activity and the other wet, and they have distinct equipment needs.

Book arts, letterpress, and printmaking activities naturally overlap, and the location of the new studios will bring all three together for greater crossover and collaboration. After this project is complete, the current books and paper studio will become a dedicated papermaking studio.

By supporting Fund-a-Need, you invest in two of Penland's most popular studios, ensuring that students and instructors have the essential tools and equipment needed for comprehensive and safe learning experiences to further their education in these media. Raise your paddle during the live auction on Saturday to contribute to the equipment needs of the new drawing/painting and book arts studios.

                                                                            - Mike Davis 

Fund-a-Need invites direct support, during the auction weekend, for important and timely needs on the Penland campus. During Saturday's live auction, the auctioneer will invite patrons to raise their paddles and make gifts at various levels to fund equipment for Penland's new drawing/painting and book arts studios, including drying racks, flat files, custom-designed student workstations, studio and field easels, a spray booth, anti-fatigue mats, and adjustable lighting setups.  

 

To reserve your auction tickets, click the link below: 

Reservations are required. The event often sells out quickly; early reservations are recommended. Reservations will be accepted until available spaces are filled. All ticket purchasers and absentee bidders receive an illustrated catalog in late July.