Last night Nicki and I attended the Orpheum Theatre’s 35th Annual Auction just off Beale Street in downtown Memphis, TN.
Nicki and I love going to shows and events at the Orpheum, and the annual auction is one of our favorites. We look forward to this date night each year.
This was the fourth annual auction I’ve done a painted canvas chair for, and the third time I’ve had one in the live auction. I’ve done a Phantom of the Opera, a Memphis (the musical) and a Memphis Tigers chair. You can see them all in my gallery here.
My chair was up first in the live auction and after a bit of a bidding war it ended up with a winning bid of $2,300.00! It outdid last year’s Memphis Tiger chair which went for $1,700.00.
The money from the auction is going to help fund the new Orpheum Centre For Performing Arts which will break ground next to the Orpheum this January.
There were trips, jewelry, game tickets, fur, a new car and more in the live auction, and lots of art, furniture, autographed collectibles, 3 other painted chairs, and many other items in the silent auction in the lobby and backstage areas. Plus there was a drawing for a black convertible Ferrari!
There are a lot of cool signed murals from previous productions throughout the backstage area. There were also several open bars and a huge assortment of food backstage, including some amazing cupcakes by Frost Bake Shop. It’s always a big kick to be backstage, or to have my art on stage- but as cool as they both are to experience, I think I liked those cupcakes even more!
Really looking forward to seeing the new Orpheum Centre For Performing Arts being completed, and also looking forward to the return of “Wicked” to the Orpheum in January.
Lin