BIG ARTS draws crowd at fundraiser
BIG ARTs seems to know how to throw a good party.
Laughter and chatter could be heard throughout BIG ARTS on last Saturday as throngs of more than 300 art lovers, artists and curious onlookers winded around the galleries and outside gardens of BIG ARTS.
The cool air seemed to exhilarate the bubbly crowd as they nibbled on fine cheeses, sipped wine and marveled at the work of artists hung for silent and live auctions at the BIG ARTS BIG SECRET fundraiser.
According to BIG ARTS staff, the benefit raised more than $19,000 for the arts scholarship program.
A sizable crowd clung around the stage in Schein Hall to watch abstract expressionist artist Jonas Gerard paint to music.
After hushing the audience for the silence he needed to concentrate on his work, Gerard flipped on his ipod and let the tunes flow.
His arms waved and, his feet tapped in what appeared to be a personal reverie as he splashed on bright hues of paint onto blank canvases. His painting alternated between soft and tumultuous – seemingly in sync with the rhythm of the music.
After the crescendo of his energies receded, two boldly painted pieces remained. Both paintings, an abstract piece filled with wide swaths of color and the other, a mountain scene with a boldly hued tree, drew onlookers breath away as they looked at them.