Presented by: OACCE
When: During show hours
Bidding: Thursday 4, 6pm – Sunday 7, 3pm
Introducing SculptCare, a silent auction to be held during the Philadelphia Fine Art Fair. The PFAF supports the conservation and restoration of the more than 1,000 public artworks in neighborhoods throughout the city. Philadelphia proudly showcases more public art than any other city in the nation. SculptCare will be a fundraising vehicle directly focused on generating needed funds for the public artworks that are most in need of maintenance, repair and restoration.
SculptCare is a partnership between the organizers of the Philadelphia Fine Art Fair and the City’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (OACCE). The OACCE supports and promotes the arts, culture and creative industries in Philadelphia. The OACCE is home to the City’s Percent for Art and Conservation and Collection Management Programs. They oversee the care of City-owned artworks while regulating gifts of public art to the City and the placement of public art on City-owned land.
PFAF Show producer, Rick Friedman, will kick off this charity activity by donating various pieces from his personal art collection. Additionally, the organizers will augment this silent auction by recruiting donated art pieces from participating galleries in the fair. Estimated values of the pieces will range from $2,500-$10,000. All revenue generated from the sales of these pieces, will be gifted in full to OACCE.
The SculptCare silent auction pieces will be on display during show hours, as well as online. Bidding will begin on Thursday, April 4 at 6pm and end at the close of the fair on Sunday, April 7 at 3pm. To expand the audience of potential buyers, fair organizers are in discussions with Artnet to promote the sale on their popular Artnet Auctions section of their website. They will have tens of thousands of active online bidders. The online auction will close on Sunday at same time as the art fair.
In addition, the fair will host an onsite reception inviting the Mayor, city officials, major donors, the Host Committee, gallery owners and those engaged in the restoration of the City’s public art collection.
The organizers of the Philadelphia Fine Art fair are fully committed to the conservation of some of the City of Philadelphia’s most valuable cultural assets.