Last night, WAM Collective left home base at the Weisman to attend opening night of the annual MCAD art sale to purchase new pieces for HOMEWORK, the Weisman’s student-only art rental collection. The Minneapolis College of Art and Design, aka MCAD, hosts an annual art sale featuring artwork from emerging student artists and alumni from the school. (This year’s sale included artwork from notable MCAD alumni like Bobby Rogers and Ashley Mary.) All of the proceeds go directly to the artists and the MCAD Art Sale Scholarship Fund.
MCAD transforms the hallways and rooms of the college to showcase thousands of pieces, hanging them on the walls salon style or stacked back-to-back on shelves. The sale features artworks of various mediums: paintings, photographs, drawings, prints, mixed media, etc., and prices range from $15 to $1,500.
At the event, the space buzzed with excitement as art enthusiasts milled around, discussing and contemplating works to add to their own collection. We scoured both levels of the artsale for hours, moving through every room of the sale and carefully examining works to find a selection we thought would speak to university students. The Weisman registrars provided us with a list of things to look for to help guide our decision-making, including preferred dimensions and mediums.
In particular, we were looking for artworks with color. Many of the current rental pieces are black and white drawings or prints, so these new pieces will add a bold pop of color to the collection. In the end, we chose pieces that fit these guidelines and added our own tastes to our selections. Each Collective member has different preferences in color, subject matter, and medium, so we ended the night with a diverse array of works.
In total, we took home 23 new pieces to add to the HOMEWORK Collection consisting of paintings, photographs, and prints. Each member will be writing a post on their chosen works (check back here to preview the new pieces). These artworks will be available to rent for the spring semester, so keep an eye out for our spring HOMEWORK Collection event and be one of the first people to take home a new and unique work!
The final day of the sale is tomorrow, Saturday November 17, so if you have the chance, stop by and browse. You may find a piece or two to take home!
WAM Collective would like to thank staff at MCAD for supporting this experience.
