Submitted by The Evergreen State College
On Saturday, February 28, The Evergreen State College Foundation will host the sixth annual Art of Living dinner and auction in Tacoma. The fundraiser for Olympia-based Evergreen, which also offers a program in Tacoma, will take place at Tacoma’s ultra-modern Hotel Murano and will feature emcee Randy Engstrom, director of Seattle’s Office of Arts and Culture and an Evergreen graduate.
Artists from Issaquah and Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia, have donated fine art to the event’s live and silent auctions. One-of-a-kind experiences, mixed media pieces, sculpture, photography, paintings and jewelry will be up for bid at the Saturday evening event in the heart of Tacoma’s arts district.
Artists include Marcia Mueller of Issaquah, Paul McKee and Anna McKee of Seattle, Ann Darling of Tacoma, Tom Anderson, Mary McCann and Lois Beck of Olympia, and Liz Sales of New York City. Anderson, a renowned mixed-media artist and Evergreen graduate, restored a 2010 Fender Squire Stratocaster guitar with a maple neck, rosewood fingerboard, silver leaf, enamel and polyurethane varnish, and donated it to the auction.
Seattle Arts & Cultural Office Director, Randy Engstrom, himself an Evergreen graduate (1999), will emcee the event this year. While earning his degree at Evergreen, Engstrom began organizing Hip-Hop concerts for Books to Prisoners. “I soon realized I was using culture and the arts to build community and activate people. Evergreen taught me a great deal about navigating systems to create possibility.” He later used that skill set to found the Youngstown Cultural Art Center in West Seattle and rose in the Emerald City’s art world to his current position. “Evergreen helped me make a career for myself while still in school,” he said. “I am looking forward to giving back by my participation in this event.”
The Art of Living is Evergreen’s yearly opportunity to gather alumni, friends and supporters for an elegant and lively evening to support students and faculty in Olympia and Tacoma, buy fine art and enjoy good food. Proceeds from the Art of Living pay for scholarships and the immediate needs of the students and college. Alumni, friends and supporters are invited to register at www.evergreen.edu/give/art-of-living
Photo: Experience the Space Needle, a watercolor by Lee Hoemann, is one of many art pieces for auction at Evergreen’s Art of Living February 28. Other hi-resolution photos are available on request and on the abovementioned web page gallery.
