Utica, N.Y. – On Saturday, September 13, 2008, over 200 guests enjoyed the 19th Annual CHAIRity Auction extravaganza, and joined generous corporate sponsors to help raise over $50,000 for the artists’ programs. Sixty-seven artists donated works of art, and area businesses and individuals contributed diverse and compelling objects and services for the silent auction. Creative Chef Catering organized delicious hors d’oeuvres and were joined by area restaurants in donating appetizers and dishes.

New to the auction this year was “cooler art,” artistically fabricated and decorated metal armatures that camouflage the bottle portion of a standard water cooler. The armatures were donated by Waterbaskets.

Highlights included the presentation of the Mayor’s Award to four-time winner Joel Grimaldi; the creative Earth Day Collection sponsored by Empire Recycling; Olek Oleksiak’s wearable art performance, The Empress’s Dress and for the finale, the Grand Prize drawing for a weekend in Lake Placid.

CHAIRity also features an Endowed Sculpture, seating or other work created by an artist specifically for a donor who contributes $3,500 or more to the organization. Croyle Inc. & Swank Architecture sponsored the Endowed Sculpture this year, designed by past artists-in-residence Patrick Cuffe and Aimee Tarasek.

Board members Lisa M. DeFrees and Victoria Mele Zacek co-chaired the event, working with a dedicated committee.

Sculpture Space, which just celebrated its 31st anniversary, is an international artist-in-residence center that has been serving professional artists whose focus is sculpture. The program provides each artist with technical support, housing, 24-hour studio access and a materials and living stipend. On a regular basis, the community is invited to view the artists’ works and learn about their processes. Tours of the studios are offered. Works created at Sculpture Space are exhibited in sculpture parks, museums and galleries around the world. Sculpture Space is a member of the New York State Artists Workspace Consortium and the Alliance of Artists Communities. Its programs are in part made possible with support from the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. For additional information please call 315-724-8381, e-mail info@sculpturespace.org, or visit www.sculpturespace.org.