'Lights, Camera, Auction!' at Chair-ries Jubilee fundraiser

Friday, April 15, 2011

IF YOU GOWhat: Chair-ries Jubilee: "Lights, Camera, Auction!"Where: Museum Center at Five PointsWhen: Today. 6 p.m. silent auction; 8 p.m. live auctionAdmission: $20 advance*, $25 at the doorInformation: 423-472-6587• Advance tickets available through Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce and Red Ribbon Gift Shop

CLEVELAND, Tenn.-The 13th annual Chair-ries Jubilee will feature the auction of a wide selection of reinvented furniture pieces inspired by movies, television shows and Broadway plays.

The event will be at the Museum Center at Five Points today at 6 p.m.

The "S.S. Minnow" - a table, chair and minnow-bucket lamp collection decorated with painted fish and lures to mimic "Gilligan's Island" - is the featured piece of this year's show-themed event, titled "Lights, Camera, Auction!" Organizers have spent the last month promoting the jubilee in the lobbies of community businesses.

"It's the first time my work has been selected for traveling ambassador," said local artist Judi Andrews of her tribute to the 1960s sitcom. "It's quite an honor."

Andrews said she has donated pieces to the auction for four or five years. She contributed two more works in this event: a chair decorated with bees and another with ferns, dubbed "Taste of Honey" and "Ferngully," respectively.

"It's a very fun thing to do for me, plus it supports the arts guild and our schools," Andrews said.

Chair-ries Jubilee, presented by the Allied Arts Council of the Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce, has raised more than $240,000 for arts education in local schools since its creation in 1999, according to event organizers.

The council funds $500 grants to teachers for arts programs and visiting artists, said Nancy Casson, co-chairwoman of the Chair-ries Jubilee committee.

The event would not be possible without the enthusiasm and contributions of local talent and out-of-town artists who maintain a connection with the community, she said.

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Casson said many of the contributors do not consider themselves artists, but "craftspeople with creative ideas."

Asked how many pieces she expected to be submitted for auction this year, Casson said organizers "are always surprised. We never know."

"Investing in arts education in Cleveland and Bradley County will pay dividends for our students, and we are grateful that the community responds so well to this event every year," she said in a news release.

Paul Leach is based in Cleveland. Email him at paul.leach.press@gmail.com.