Students take part in PBS auction - Community connections

Arts & Activities, Jan, 2004 by Keith A. Rosko

In January of 2002, a group of art students from Chenango Forks High School, joined forces with the local public television station (WSKG) for an event that brought together the community, local businesses and the school district in a celebration of art and student artists.

Our project had actually been brewing for a couple of years. Over the last several years, two of the high school art rooms had been amassing quite a collection of student artwork that had been left behind at the end of the year. My fellow art teacher, Diane Sheehan, and I could not quite bring ourselves to throw the work out, but as in all art rooms, space was at a premium.

For years, I had been telling my students (jokingly, of course) that I was going to sell off their work if they didn't take it home, and the department had joked about having a "white elephant" sale to help get rid of the growing pile of artwork.

In my personal life, I had been donating artwork to the local public television station for many years for their annual Fine Arts and Antiques Auction. When they called in December 2001 to ask about a donation, I thought about the stack of old student artwork in my room, and asked if they might be interested in a donation of student artwork. Skeptical at first, the station considered the idea, and the auction coordinator made an appointment to come to the school and discuss the details.

At school, my fellow art teacher and myself pitched the idea to the students to see if they would be interested in the idea. We explained to them how the auction worked, how public broadcasting was funded and that this might be a good way to get some exposure for their work.

Many of the students were excited about their work being on television, and intrigued about the idea of total strangers not only purchasing their artwork, but actually competing for it in an auction. We contacted several alumni--whose work was still in the art rooms--and talked to them about donating their work as well.

By the time the auction coordinator came to discuss details, we had several pieces of work to show (as well as a selection of old work and work in progress) so they could see what the kids were capable of. We also had about 12 students who were creating work specifically for the auction. The coordinator was impressed by the quality and quantity of student work. After some discussion, we decided that the last two nights of the auction (Saturday and Sunday) would open and close with a "table" of student artwork (each table consisting of about six pieces).

At some point during the discussion, Diane and I were talked into hosting the auction both nights, which would involve introducing the artwork, describing each piece and giving a bit of a "sales pitch." The pitch was a running dialog about the artwork, perhaps some history of brief description of the process used to create the artwork, to get the bidding started and to fill any dead air if the bidding slowed down. Once the artwork was introduced, a station personality would handle the bidding process.

With barely a month until the auction, students began working feverishly to produce, mount and frame the work tot presentation. From the standpoint of education, this was really the meat and potatoes of what would become a "public-service project."

For many students this was the first time they had actually had the experience of matting and framing a piece of work. We also had the opportunity to discuss the finer points of display and presentation. For the students going on to an art college, cutting mats and properly displaying artwork would become a necessary skill.

The preparation also allowed us to discuss with students the difference between original and reproduction work and what a limited edition print was, as well as how the print and reproduction market worked.

Students had many questions about what went into pricing a piece of artwork and how to arrive at a price for their work. This also allowed us to talk about commission work and how artists priced their work in terms of commissions. Students were also introduced to the Graphic Artists Guild pricing and ethical guidelines.

As with many artists, students were confronted with the issue of having to give up piece of artwork that they had labored long and hard to produce. This led to a nice discussion of art produced for sale as opposed to art produced for self-satisfaction.

When the artwork was finished, framed and ready for display, students decided on a minimum retail value and the work was delivered to the station for the auction.

The first evening of the weekend auction, some of the students chose to come to the television station to see the auction from the inside and were able to help in moving around and uncrating the artwork to be auctioned off, as well as answering phones. The majority of the students however. chose to stay home and watch the auction live on television.

For Diane and me, the job of being on-air hosts was both satisfying and challenging. It was enjoyable to be able to put our critiquing skills and art-history knowledge, as well as our knowledge of production and process, through some serious usage.