Sculpture at Auction

There is good news and the bad news of the fate of the little green dance angel.

The figure cost me $10 to buy, several hours of my time, and $7 to ship it to Seattle. It sold for $12.00. As SFoDI fundraiser? A big loss.

Lila Hurowitz of Dance Art Group wrote to say,"Thanks mucho mucho for your sculpture, it turned out to be a highlight of the night! the MC (not really a dancer, more a burlesque-type announcer) did a very sweet and funny dance with it on stage. Unfortunately it did not sell in the silent auction... so the MC did a special live auction with and a few other items and it then sold for $12 a guest who donated it to DAG, and we displayed it at Sunday's workshop and jam."

After crawling out of my cave, I realized I was confusing cost and value, money and art - to the detriment of the art.
Sound familiar?

The sculpture was a flop, a negative number as a fundraiser. But as art, the little green angel was both inspiration and dance partner for an onstage performance. It literally embodied the evening for the audience of dancers and dance supporters. It was bought and given back to DAG to function as icon and mascot. This is success, not a problem. It did exactly what it was made for, to move (in every sense of the word) and delight people.

Part of creating for fundraisers is letting go of any expectations. Though next year I might just write them a $12.00 check....