Stone Soup Auction kicks off with watercolor raffle

The second annual Stone Soup Auction will be held October 14 at the Brockport High School auditorium. The auction of works by area artists is sponsored by the Arts and Aesthetics committee of the Walk! Bike! Brockport Action Group. Last year the auction raised more than $12,000 to provide materials for a Bill Stewart sculpture scheduled for completion near the canal Welcome Center this fall. Lori Skoog is project director for the auction.

This year the group is raising funds for a commissioned metal sculpture by SUNY Brockport college associate professor and artist, Jennifer Hecker. Funds for sculpture will come from the auction, the sale of fine-art reproductions by Helen Smagorinsky and the sale of raffle tickets for a reproduction by Brockport watercolor artist Dianne Hickerson.

Tickets for the Hickerson watercolor "Promises of Spring" are available from committee members. The raffle tickets also will be for sale at the Farmers' Market on Market Street from 10 a.m. to noon beginning June 26; at the Fourth of July celebration and the Peddler's Market at the Morgan Manning House and at other Brockport events. The tickets are $1 each or six for $5. The Arts and Aesthetics Committee members are Bill Andrews, Alicia Fink, Norm Frisch, Kendra Gemmett, Linda Hall, Deanna Shifton, Lori Skoog and Helen Smagorinsky.

Smagorinsky has created an acrylic painting featuring Brockport Victorian-era landmarks and the canal. A reproduction, blown up to 15 by six feet is scheduled to be mounted on the village's Main Street billboard near the railroad overpass. Sale of reproductions of the billboard image will begin when the billboard is officially dedicated.

The Stewart and Hecker sculptures, the Smagorinsky billboard and the 9-11 Firefighter's Memorial are some of the many attractions that will be part of a map-guided art walk through the village and college campus. Other projects of the Arts and Aesthetics Committee, such as the completed iron benches on Main Street, will encourage walkers and bikers to enjoy many interesting points of interest in the village.

For information on raffle tickets call Deanna Shifton at (585) 637-3548.