Night at the museum gives Briscoe a financial boost and a morale boost

Anne Phillip’s overnight trip to San Antonio cost her

$57,500, not including her plane ticket, accommodations or meals.

But she returned home to Scottsdale, Ariz., happy, adding a new piece of Western art — depicting Pueblo Indians on horseback on a rugged terrain — to her collection.

“I’m like a deer in the headlights,” said Phillips, describing the shock of obtaining the painting by up-and-coming Western artist Mark Maggiori.

Briscoe Western Art Museum officials also were thrilled. They had expected the painting to sell for between $25,000 and $35,000 at the museum’s first live auction in two years.

The museum raised more than $440,000 during the March 27 fundraiser. A second auction — online, it started March 13 and ended the night of the live event — brought the total to around $1 million.

Briscoe officials expect to gross about $2 million after concluding a third, fixed-sale event that starts Sunday and runs through May 9.

The revenue will provide sorely needed operating funds for the art institution, which — like every other art museum — has been financially damaged by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Museum officials, however, won’t discuss how much of the money will remain after sharing proceeds with the artists.

Briscoe’s federal tax forms for its 2019 budget year show that once artists were paid and other expenses covered for its annual auction fundraiser, the museum netted around $1 million, or 35 percent of the revenue collected.

This year’s take will be considerably less.

Last year, the Briscoe only grossed $1.1 million from two hastily organized online auctions in March. Officials canceled the live auction and closed the museum for more than two months because of COVID-19.

When it reopened, the managers cut the Briscoe’s days of operation to five from seven and laid off about 30 percent of its 37 employees because of the financial problems created by the pandemic.

The Briscoe had attracted about 120,000 visitors a year before the pandemic. With one of its entrances on the River Walk, many of them were tourists.

Michael Duchemin, Briscoe’s president and CEO, said the museum is gradually rebuilding attendance, but it’s still at only 40 percent of its pre-pandemic numbers.

The happening

On Saturday night, guests seated in the museum events room and outdoor gardens were excited, many of them loudly trying to outbid one another for the 30 artworks offered at auction.

“I like the live auction because it’s dangerous; you don’t how it’s going to turn out,” Duchemin said.

The drama pulls in both bidders and nonbidders.

The Western work Phillips

Photos by Matthew Busch / Contributor Auctioneer Troy Black calls out bids at the Briscoe Western Art Museum. The museum raised $440,000-plus at the March 27 auction. An online auction brought the total to about $1 million.

Briscoe Western Art Museum President and CEO Michael Duchemin and Vice President Liz Jackson open the event.

“His Storm Has Passed,” by Martin Grelle, is auctioned at the Briscoe Western Art Museum. The auction was also livestreamed.