Kenneth Brown
of The Crossroads
A unique opportunity for people to purchase creations by a wide range of local artists and to support a good cause all at once is coming soon to Kindersley.
West Central Abilities Inc., a regional agency raising money to build a new day program facility in Kindersley, will be hosting an Art Extravaganza on Nov. 3 in the hall at St. Joseph Catholic Parish on Fourth Ave. West in Kindersley. The doors will open at 6:30 p.m.
The event is an art auction sale, but it serves as a fundraiser for the agency. The event also includes live entertainment provided by Jacqueline (Jackie) Veysey of Kindersley and Sam Motier of Glidden. The entertainment starts at 7 p.m.
Tickets and admission for the Art Extravaganza are $25. There will be appetizers served and a cash bar at the event. Local artists have been donating their work to the fundraiser, and people in attendance will have an opportunity to bid on the artwork as part of a silent auction.
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Kim Edmunds, the agency’s executive director, said there are a lot of talented people in the area and the evening of the arts will help to display the talent of several visual artists and the pair of performing artists.
She noted that a small committee consisting of the agency’s board members and staff, along with volunteers, has been planning events to help raise money for a new day program facility and the fundraising committee suggested an art sale. Edmunds said the committee is still looking for members and volunteers if people are interested.
Donations so far include artwork such as photographs, paintings, carvings and other mixed media, Edmunds said. All of the art has been donated by local artists and she said artists in the area could still donate items to support the cause.
“There are artists that we don’t know about and we’d sure like them to come forward,” she said, recognizing that the agency’s small fundraising committee has only scratched the surface with respect to artists in the area.
Edmunds said organizers will accept donations of artwork and other creative pieces until the day before the event. People could drop off their donations at the agency’s current program facility on Seventh Ave. West. The contact number is 306-463-2727.
The executive director said people could donate anything that is made by hand or created by a person. She noted that people have even donated books, so buyers will have a wide range of items to bid on at the event. The agency would pick up items if the donor lives close to Kindersley, so people could contact the agency for pick ups.
She noted that all of the bidding will take place as part of the silent auction, so there is no live auction. All proceeds from the event will go to the day program facility project, a much needed building for the agency and its clients, she commented.
According to Edmunds, the agency owns the land where its new facility will be built on the 100 block of First Ave. West. She said the project is in the tendering stage and it is hoped the construction starts in the spring. The agency’s current facility opened in 1981 and it is located in Kindersley’s industrial area, so it will be nice to have a new building in the town’s downtown core, she said.
More than 30 creative pieces have been donated so far, and artists including Dean Francis of Sagebrush Studios and Devon Coles of the Garden Gallery are among the donors, Edmunds said. She noted that the pieces would make excellent Christmas gifts.
Edmunds said the agency had a goal to reach $250,000 in its first year of fundraising for the new facility, but the total is closer to $100,000 near the end of the year. She noted that the Art Extravaganza will add to the total.
The goal for the event is to raise money for the project, but she said organizers want people to “just come out and enjoy the night.” The agency also has a building committee and there are openings with the organization to sit on its committees or volunteer for events, she added.
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