Week Long Craft Center Silent Auction Will Feature Top Local Artists

BROOKFIELD — This year Brookfield Craft Center’s popular BowlFest Silent Auction has been extended to last for a full week.

The non-profit center’s fourth annual BowlFest event will be held on Sunday, June 5, from 1 to 4 pm, but the silent auction component of the “festive fundraiser” will begin on Saturday, May 28, in the center’s Lynn Tendler Bignell Gallery.

This way the silent auction will run through the event itself, “Giving area collectors and supporters more time to enjoy, study and bid on the wonderful artwork donated by more than thirty local artists,” says John I. Russell, Brookfield Craft Center’s Executive Director.

The event provides a fresh and fun approach to fundraising. On Sunday, June 5, supporters and friends of the craft center will gather for a “musical picnic plus” on the grounds of the Brookfield Craft Center’s historic (circa 1780) mill building. Participants will enjoy fine artisanal foods creatively displayed and fine local wines.

They will “swing & sway” to live music provided by Jive By Five, a local jazz band led by the noted painter Robert Andrew Parker of West Cornwall.

Another key ingredient of BowlFest 2005 is the hundreds of handmade ceramic and wooden bowls created by students, faculty and artist friends of the craft center. Each guest gets to pick one and take it home.

“‘Regulars’ at the event make a beeline to the expansive bowl display to get first pick,” says Judith Russell, BCC’s Gallery Director and auction coordinator. “Each year’s bowls are stamped with a special icon which makes them sought after very collectibles.”

Reservations are required for BowlFest 2005, but the silent auction will be open free of charge during the center’s regular hours which are Monday through Saturday, 10 am to 5 pm; and Sunday, noon to 5pm.

Tickets are required for the June 5 event, with a suggested donations of $50 per person. All proceeds from BowlFest 2005 will support the center’s extensive campus renovation campaign.

For more information or to purchase tickets, call 775-4526 or visit BrookfieldCraftCenter.org.

According to BCC Education Director Kristin Muller: “Brookfield Craft Center provides award-winning education and gallery programs which promote and preserve the skills and values of fine craftsmanship and good design and support American’s fine craft artists.”

BCC serves thousands of students, faculty, artists and gallery customers each year. The campus is composed of six buildings and is located on Route 25 just east of the “four corners” intersection with Route 7/202 in Brookfield. The center is open daily from 10 am to 5 pm.