Artists' violins on display around valley
A traveling exhibit of 11 sculpted and painted violins is on display this month at locations around the Flathead Valley.
The Virtuoso Violins Art Auction features works by 12 prominent Montana artists, who created the pieces for Glacier Symphony and Chorale’s 30th season fundraiser. The violins are on display in June in the windows of Glacier Bank’s downtown Kalispell location, at Bozeman Watch Co. in Whitefish and at Frame of Reference in Bigfork.
“This is a great collaboration between our visual arts community and the Glacier Symphony and Chorale,” said Margene Berry, longtime Glacier Symphony supporter and auction organizer. “We’ve had great support from these 12 valley artists who are donating 100 percent of the proceeds from their creations to the symphony.”
Each violin is designed in the artist’s favorite medium, ranging from painting to sculpting, and offering a diversity of styles that will appeal to a wide audience of art lovers, Berry added.
There are three auction components to Virtuoso Violins, including written bids, a silent auction and a finale party that includes a live auction.
Written bids may be submitted at any time to Glacier Symphony; bid forms are available on the symphony’s website.
Silent auction bids will begin in July when the violins will be displayed at three outdoor concerts. The Pops Night fundraiser concert takes place at Harbor Village in Bigfork July 6; the Summer Symphony Pops Concert at Rebecca Farm is July 7; and the Festival Amadeus open air orchestra concert is scheduled for July 22 at Depot Park in Whitefish.
The current high bid will be posted online so bidders may keep track of the fundraiser’s progress.
The finale and awarding of the violin art will take place at the gala Virtuoso Violins and Vino Art Auction at the O’Shaughnessy Center July 23. Written bids must be submitted by noon that day to be considered at the evening gala and auction. The event, which includes a wine tasting, will conclude with a live auction conducted by Whitefish personality Richard Atkinson.
Tickets to the gala are $25.
The artists participating in the Virtuoso Violin Art Auction are Nancy Cawdrey, Karen Leigh, Nick Oberling and Jennifer Li, Rochelle Lombardi, Mark Ogle, Rob Akey, Jeff Manion, Jeffrey Funk, Marla Edmiston, Susan Guthrie and Tara Moore.
Contributing to the auction’s success is John Stalowy, a Bigfork photographer who provided images of each piece of art to incorporate into a bidding book. The book details each artist’s concept and provides a comprehensive look at the artwork being offered for sale.
To obtain a copy of the bidding book, call the Glacier Symphony office at 257-3241, or view the Virtuoso Violin art online at www.gscmusic.org.