Lin by Lin- My “Hamilton” Painting For The Orpheum’s 38th Annual Auction

14955777_10211145684661897_342307320314582946_n

This month I donated another painting to the Orpheum Theatre’s 38th Annual Live Auction. The annual auction benefits the Halloran Centre For Performing Arts & Education, which is next door to the Orpheum Theatre on Main Street in downtown Memphis, TN. All proceeds from the auction benefit the 50,000 students, teachers, and families who participate in their community and education programs.

14980847_10211145685141909_3836624233433674346_n  11215096_10208068718219659_4367704943857633600_n

The centre is named after Pat Halloran, the former President and CEO of the Orpheum Theatre and who is a multiple Tony award winning producer (including “MEMPHIS”). I always look forward to seeing Pat at these events. He’s the Orpheum’s biggest fan and supporter. (That’s my B.B. King chair from last year’s auction sitting outside the Halloran Centre.)

14956404_10211145681101808_1691930228776596010_n  14915553_10211145681581820_3797953679296655193_n

My art donation for this year’s auction was a black and white airbrushed portrait of Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton from the Broadway musical “Hamilton” (which he wrote and starred in). Normally I paint a themed canvas chair provided by the Orpheum, and donate a painting or two that I may have left over from one of my previous art shows. This year the staff decided not to do any chairs, so since “Hamilton” is the hottest thing on Broadway right now (and my wife Nicki is a huge fan) I decided to paint the musical’s creator and star.
14908389_10211066499042306_3186150327305012788_n  14906885_10211068642735897_2655766112564577365_n

I worked on it part of one weekend and a couple hours each day after work for almost a week. I’m getting slow in my old age and it took me a bit longer than I had anticipated. Also, since our garage isn’t fully ready again for me to paint in it, I had to paint in the driveway or at the front of the garage while there was still daylight.

14925754_10211082468481532_4619496071983069252_n  14915498_10211093860846334_194452735869237148_n

The painting was done on a 30″x40″ canvas with my Paasche VL-3 airbrush and Createx acrylic paints. I used black, white, a light grey, and a dark grey.

ham_fin_adj  14991878_10211145681701823_8098884913409289113_n

I do most of my Monsterpieces in greyscale. I not only like the look of black and white, but there’s less work cleaning bottles after I’m done. I have had people think it’s because I’m color blind. I’m not, just lazy. 😉
14900511_10211145685581920_4781221889655269845_n
Most of my chairs have been on stage in the live auction, but my paintings are always in the silent auction backstage along with many other paintings, prints, and photos. I love checking out what the other local artists have donated, and we’ve been lucky to win a few in previous auctions. Always great to talk to the other artists, too. We all tend to keep to ourselves a lot.
14907125_10211145682381840_8861468175973468770_n
The auction is one of our favorite grown up date nights and a great excuse for us to dress nice and be social. Nicki and I love going backstage at the Orpheum each year- it’s one of our favorite parts of the auction.
14915458_10211145682621846_5513080283002941203_n  14925665_10211145683021856_7129366473279752454_n
There are lots of great murals for each of the shows that have come to the Orpheum, and each signed by the cast.

14925540_10211145683301863_5014972590320574481_n

At the rear of the backstage area of the theater they had lots of other silent auction items, plus food stations and bars. There were also a few food stations on the left of the main stage, and a few more bars in the auditorium and lobby.

14915652_10211145683901878_8839140737796215777_n

The open bar is nice, and the desserts are always amazing! These were delicious mouthfuls of concentrated chocolate evil. I did eat some fruit, cheese, and Butternut Squash raviolis- but I have to admit I went back for seconds on these.
14910469_10211146896772199_7801853807989860847_n
After we were done exploring backstage, we grabbed a bit more food and a couple drinks, and then headed back out to the main part of the theater to get a good seat for the live auction coming up. I do have to admit I did miss seeing one of my painted chairs onstage and experiencing the bidding wars and excitement that they generate. Hopefully they will decide to bring some back or create a new painted signature item for future auctions.

14962679_10211146981814325_9091273732577563669_n  14947541_10211146892452091_6117058248117296151_n

This year they did try something new and different with the silent auction and had bidding done on cell phones. We’d seen this done at the National Cartoonists Society event we attended at St. Jude earlier this year and really liked it. (Tiger painting above by artist Michael P. Maness.)

14915169_10211146892492092_7792186950378052862_n

No hovering around the item you wanted waiting to see if you were going to be outbid or to try and outbid someone else at the last minute. Folks could bid on multiple items and walk around or sit down while keeping an eye on their bids with their phones.
14947818_10211145762623846_6307408790209640573_n
It also gave attendees the chance to enjoy some live music, which was also a new addition to the event that we really enjoyed.

14900406_10211146891972079_4776579085809374238_n

Brett Batterson, the new President and CEO of the Orpheum, welcomed the crowd and introduced the emcee for the evening. He took over  the role of President/CEO of Orpheum Theatre Group in January of this year when Pat retired.

14915134_10211146895932178_1771453955569539429_n

There were lots of great items up for bid in the live auction, and the “Hamilton” trip for two to Chicago was one of the most popular of the night (hosted by Brett and his wife Veronica). It quickly rose above our price range and went for $7,400.00. I was glad I chose to do the “Hamilton” painting when I saw this was up for bid as well.
14915447_10211146899852276_7415597296711949712_n  14915280_10211146900172284_1539323765143088254_n
Nicki got outbid on one painting in the silent auction, but was able to win another auction which included a painting, a painted wine bottle, and two Pinot’s Pallet gift cards. Unfortunately my painting only went for the minimum bid of $150.00.
14915719_10211146898852251_1039675797605310241_n
The biggest items of the night were the new SUV (in the live auction on left) and the 1966 Ford Mustang (in the raffle drawing). The night was a lot of fun as usual, and raised a lot of money for the Halloran Centre. Oh, and we got chocolate chip cookies as we left. 🙂

IMG_8828

A few weeks prior to the auction Nicki and I, along with several other Memphis artists were invited to talk with Brett, Pat, Vice President of Development Leanne McQuown, and the Orpheum staff about future art related events and auctions at the Orpheum. Nicki and I got to take a tour of the new Halloran Centre, and were blown away by it. We both swear they used “Doctor Who” Time Lord technology when they built it! It is much BIGGER on the inside– large lobby with high ceilings, a lounge space facing Main with a fireplace and bar, practice stage (which is the same size of the Orpheum’s stage), recording studio, class spaces, office spaces, meeting room, theater, catering kitchen, reading nooks with books on theater, and more. The building not only utilizes the limited footprint given on Main Street between the Orpheum and MLG&W buildings, but also rents out its space for meetings and other events. This earns money to go back into itself to help with the continued operation and maintenance of the centre. It really is impressive, and was great to see it finally operational and benefiting the city.
IMG_8832  14962598_10211145687501968_8128891725702039457_n
On the day I dropped off my painting to the centre I noticed a rainbow over downtown Memphis as I drove behind the Orpheum. I was about to turn onto Beale Street to head home, but had to wait for the light to chance. May sound a bit sappy, but seeing that rainbow made me smile. Memphis as a whole has a lot of problems, but that sight reminded me that there’s a lot of good in this town, too- and it gave me hope for Memphis. This city is lucky to have the Orpheum Theatre, the Halloran Center, and people who are willing to support them. I’m proud to be a small part of helping such worthy causes, and look forward to future events.

Lin

Lin by Lin- My “Hamilton” Painting For The Orpheum’s 38th Annual Auction