Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery Hosts Annual Fundraising Event for Scholarships Benefiting VSU’s Art Students

Written By: Ashley Jones, Arts & Entertainment Editor

Dedo Maranville’s Fine Arts Gallery partnered with the Annette Howell Turner Center to host their annual fundraising event for scholarships benefiting VSU’s art students On Nov. 7.  

The annual event is usually held at The Turner Center, but this year the event was held in Dedo Maranville.  

During her opening speech, Interim Head of the Department of Art & Design, Abigail Heuss, stated “The art department has been working with a wonderful staff at the Turner Center to shift the schedule around a little bit,” she said. “In doing so we were at the risk of missing a year, but since so many of our students rely on the scholarships that this event supports, we didn’t want to miss a year,” said Heuss.  

To raise the necessary funds, this event featured an auction on art pieces curated by local artists who may have attended, visited, or have been employed by VSU.  

Heuss commented during her speech on the scholarships impact to the art department “Since its inception in 2008, 28 students have received the Turner Center scholarship, which is not only a generous gift but an amazing opportunity to work with artists, incuriators, and talented people in our community, “she said. 

A few recipients of this scholarship were identified, quoted, and pictured along a wall of the exhibit. One recipient, Autumn’s displayed quote read “The scholarship helped me focus on my artist development, rather than having to constantly worry about how I can afford to continue making art.” 

People bidding on the artwork were able to bid for pieces online through Give Smart and during the live auction event.   

After welcoming speeches from Heuss and Mark Errol, The Gallery Director and Ceramics & Foundations professor, Errol introduced our current President Dr. Richard Carvajal as the auctioneer for the night. 

During his opening speech Carvajal announced “…what we’re going to be doing tonight is to raise scholarships, we’re making dreams come true, “he said. “But I can tell you that every semester, I find out in my office there’s a list of folks that they’re just a little bit away from being able to finish that semester. You’re purchase tonight will top it off,” said The President.  

All of the artwork in the exhibit had a starting bid of $50. During the live auction the artwork that sold for the highest price was $220, created by artist James Rose, who previously visited VSU for a live drawing show and an exhibit in his honor. 

There were 5 pieces sold in the live auction. The first artwork sold was titled ‘Domestic Ritual One’ by former faculty member Dr. Kaleena Stasiak.  

Carvajal auctioned the piece for $111.  

The other 3 pieces were auctioned off for $120, $180, and $217. 

There were a few times during the event Carvajal’s bidding calls started to become unintelligible because of the speed. 

By the end of the event, the art department raised a total of $5900.  

After the final announcement on the amount of money raised, Errol stated “just realize that’s about eight to ten scholarships that we’re hoping to give out.” 

Errol’s comment brought a reminder to bidders that the money they’ve spent will help art students complete their degree programs.