Be Seated, Do Good

Meet ” Chairman Meow “.

My entry last season to the annual live auction benefiting The St. Croix Womens’ Coalition. They’re a non-profit organization that provides counseling, shelter and family services to abused women and children here.

The evening is billed as a “Chair-a-Table ” event because alternating years they provide local artists with an unpainted chair or table to festoon, paint or reassemble in any way they choose. This is the mainstay of their biggest fund raising gala and aside from private donations, brings in the most revenue to support their sadly needed services.

All the items go on the auction block and the bidding frenzy begins. A few glasses of wine, champagne, people outbidding each other -it’s a terrific night and everybody is a beneficiary of something good.

Opening bids start at $400 and it goes from there. As the artist, you have the option to donate all or %50 of the final bid price. I indicated a total donation, thinking it would fetch ( oh it’s a cat, they only fetch live mice and release them in your bedroom ) seven or eight hundred dollars.

I worked on this for weeks- 5 coats of red lacquer paint, drying and sanding in between, the lettering, the tassels, and the Chairman himself with his Peoples’ Republic jacket. I remembered while I was doing this, how much I enjoy the craft part of art and craft.

Seems the Chaircat had a secret admirer who called in a pre-auction bid of $2200.00!!!! Yikes and whaddya know? I fell off my chair. Must have been the whiskers….

A great night indeed.

Take a look at some other kittie stars here-