UBCO hosts annual gala evening
UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, in association with the Visual Arts Course Union, is not letting COVID-19 stop a popular annual tradition.
Art on the Line has gone virtual this year and will be held as a stay-at-home gala affair on Saturday, Feb. 27 with special host UBCO professor Michael V. Smith. Pre-gala cocktails will be served at 5:30 p.m., and online auction begins at 6:30 p.m.
The evening will be an entertaining celebration where some 150 juried works of art are curated for an online exhibition, explains Tiffany Douglas, Art on the Line co-coordinator.
“For the first time you can enjoy the night with your art-loving friends around the world. We are excited about organizing the 2021 event with the challenge of having to re-think and re-invent how it will be presented,” says Douglas. “This will be the 19th annual Art on the Line fundraiser and gala that celebrates the work of local artists where guests can buy some amazing and original artwork by local celebrities and soon-to-be discovered student artists”
The students are using a locally-designed software called Trellis to support the virtual event. With the online format, there will be three ways to get some art — one piece is guaranteed with the purchase of the standard $190 ticket. But guests are also welcome to purchase a $25 ticket to participate and perhaps be eligible to win a piece of artwork through a skills-based art trivia game.
A silent auction will run throughout the night and the winning bidder will be asked one question. If answered correctly, an additional piece of art could soon brighten their home.
“The online format will certainly be different but it’s given us the opportunity as artists to be more creative and we’ve been having fun pushing the envelope on what an interactive experience can be like,” says Miah Olmsted, also an Art on the Line co-coordinator.
To make the event as special as possible, Olmsted says guests are encouraged to dress up in 1920’s-style clothing and hairstyles along with sequins and pearls. Guests are also invited to join a pre-gala party that starts at 5:30 p.m., where a local award-winning bartender will do a step-by-step walk through of how to make original prohibition-style cocktails (guests supply the ingredients.)
Guests can also pre-order a meal delivery basket containing a curated wine or beer tasting with local food pairings. Tickets are sold separately for this special pre-event and are available online when purchasing tickets to the main event.
“With the locally designed and managed Trellis platform, we believe the evening will run smoothly and we can link to each artist’s social media channels or websites. This will help our contributing artists experience new ways to connect with their patrons,” says Olmsted. “Our amazing host, Michael V. Smith, will certainly glitter as he leads us through a night of glamour. We encourage everyone to get into the frivolity.”
Organizers are still collecting two-and three-dimensional artworks to be donated for the event. If you’re interested in submitting a piece of artwork for consideration, high- resolution images of the work can be sent to aotl@ubcovacu.org to be juried and approved.
The funds raised at this event support visual arts students in many ways including the fourth-year exhibition and UBCO’s visiting artist program.
This year’s event is sponsored by alumni UBC.
Tickets are available at artontheline2021.eventbrite.ca.