'Be Seated' for a good cause

Pull up a chair and learn more about “Be Seated Silent Auction” put on by the Older Persons Commission through Sept. 26. You can buy one-of-a-kind chairs and browse through a sale of artwork being sold at low prices.

“It’s a fundraiser for the art department here at OPC,” said Paula Bedsole, OPC art department programmer. “It helps to keep it (art classes) affordable and it helps to maintain all of the equipment. We have a very large art department.”

The department includes a pottery studio with several pottery wheels and kilns.

Proceeds from the auction of chairs created by area artists and the artwork donated by members of the community will help to maintain those artists’ tools.

 “We have to keep them in top-notch condition so the things they make turn out well,” Bedsole said. “But the main purpose of the fundraiser is to keep the cost of art classes – which range from pottery and lapidary (stone polishing) to silversmithing and quilting affordable (for the seniors at OPC).. We feature every fine art you can think of.”

There are approximately three dozen unique and oh-so-different chairs to bid on. Most of the chairs were designed by regional artists just for the event. At least one - a recliner fashioned from the seat of a 1994 Pontaic Bonneville SSE - has been donated to the cause. The chairs are on display at the OPC library through Sept. 26. Each one has a starting bid, but if someone falls in love with a chair – and does not wish to wait for the auction or risk losing to another bidder - there is a buy-it-now option available.  However, interested buyers can only do this between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, when the OPC offices are open.

Bedsole, who came up with the idea for the event, said this is something she’s always had on the backburner and is hoping that it will be the first of many. So far it’s looking like it will become an annual event.

“We’ve had quite an outpouring from the community,” Bedsole said. “There are chairs for every taste. I think that’s what impressed.”

Also part of the event is a used art sale. This is already an annual event that attracts buyers from all over the state. The sale features a variety of second generation pieces – from Southwestern art and original oil paintings to limited edition prints and poster art. There is no admission charge to the sale, which caps off the fundraising events on Sept. 26. Items will be available for sale from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“It’s a great shopping adventure,” Bedsole said. “The prices are affordable and they go away with something they like.”

The OPC is located at 650 Letica Drive in Rochester. For more information, call 248-656-1403.