This fiberglass butterfly with its nod to Johannes Vermeer's painting "Girl with a Pearl Earring," is among 24 butterfly creations that will be auctioned off by the Towson Chamber of Commerce on Thursday,Nov. 13 at the Towson Farmers Market. Sponsoring organizations or businesses paid $600 to have each one painted or decorated to raise money for the maintenance of downtown Towson’s greenery and flowers. The butterfly shown above was painted by Towson University student Chelsea Ponter and was on display over the summer outside Towson Framing Gallery on York Road. (Staff photo by Sarah Nix)
Flying, flying, flown
Towson Chamber's butterfly art to be auctioned Nov. 13
By Loni Ingraham
Posted 11/10/08
What would somebody pay for a 25-pound butterfly with a 3-foot wingspan?
The Towson Chamber of Commerce is going to find out when it auctions off 24 of the painted fiberglass butterflies that have adorned the downtown area, during the Thursday farmers market Nov. 13.
It would have been 25 butterflies, if somebody hadn’t stolen one with flowers and vines painted on it that was outside Sweet Lela’s cafe on Allegheny Avenue.
It happened in July, said Chamber Executive Director Nancy Hafford. The man who took it down implied he was from the county but to this day nobody knows who the thief was or where that particular butterfly landed.
Anyone who has noticed a 25-pound butterfly where there wasn’t one before July should call the chamber.
Anyway, the remaining butterflies will be on display in the first-floor windows of the Towson Commons building in the unit block of Pennsylvania Avenue until the day before the bidding Nov. 13.
The bidding will begin at 12:30 p.m. in the Revenue Authority parking lot next to the Grillo & Co. jewelry store at 17 Allegheny Ave. — rain date is the next Thursday farmers market on Nov. 20.
The farmers market will ensure a crowd but, just in case, Hafford may offer some sort of refreshments. “Maybe a box of Cheetos,” she said.
The butterflies aren’t free — sponsoring organizations or businesses paid $600 to have each one painted or decorated to help raise money for the maintenance of downtown Towson’s greenery and flowers.
“Some of them are really beautiful,” said Ed Kilcullen, president of the Greater Towson Council of Community Associations. “They’re pieces of art.”
But Kilcullen, whose organization was given the butterfly they commissioned in recognition of the support that residents have given the business community, sees a potential problem for bidders.
“Obviously space is going to be an issue for anyone who purchases them,” he said. “We’re still figuring out what we’re going to do with ours.”
Hafford suggests putting a butterfly on a lawn or in the lobby of an office building or hanging it outside a store — or use it as a clothes rack, she said. “It’s a lot cheaper than throwing your clothes over a treadmill.”
The minimum bid will be $300. Butterflies that fail to draw at least that amount will be auctioned off during the Towsontown Spring Festival during the first weekend of May next year.
The highest bidder will be honored during the Towson Chamber’s holiday party in December with “kind words, a free meal, as much booze and he or she wants and a designated driver,” Hafford said.
The artist who created the butterfly that gets the highest bid gets a free booth at the spring festival, Hafford said.
All proceeds go to supporting the services and events the chamber provides for Towson, she said, which include Towson Clean-up Day, the holiday tree-lighting ceremony and the Feet on the Street block parties.
She noted the chamber does receive grants but “when we get grants we usually only get 85 percent of the cost of the event, and we have to kick in the other 15 percent,” she said.
She is hoping for a bidding war during the auction, she said, noting maybe Recher’s bar and theater will bid against Charles Village Pub for the Charles Village Pub butterfly.”
The project has been “a wonderful success,” she said. “We planned on having only 15 butterflies, but ended up with 30 because there were so many sponsors interested in the revitalization of Towson.”
The Towson Chamber of Commerce is going to find out when it auctions off 24 of the painted fiberglass butterflies that have adorned the downtown area, during the Thursday farmers market Nov. 13.
It would have been 25 butterflies, if somebody hadn’t stolen one with flowers and vines painted on it that was outside Sweet Lela’s cafe on Allegheny Avenue.
It happened in July, said Chamber Executive Director Nancy Hafford. The man who took it down implied he was from the county but to this day nobody knows who the thief was or where that particular butterfly landed.
Anyone who has noticed a 25-pound butterfly where there wasn’t one before July should call the chamber.
Anyway, the remaining butterflies will be on display in the first-floor windows of the Towson Commons building in the unit block of Pennsylvania Avenue until the day before the bidding Nov. 13.
The bidding will begin at 12:30 p.m. in the Revenue Authority parking lot next to the Grillo & Co. jewelry store at 17 Allegheny Ave. — rain date is the next Thursday farmers market on Nov. 20.
The farmers market will ensure a crowd but, just in case, Hafford may offer some sort of refreshments. “Maybe a box of Cheetos,” she said.
The butterflies aren’t free — sponsoring organizations or businesses paid $600 to have each one painted or decorated to help raise money for the maintenance of downtown Towson’s greenery and flowers.
“Some of them are really beautiful,” said Ed Kilcullen, president of the Greater Towson Council of Community Associations. “They’re pieces of art.”
But Kilcullen, whose organization was given the butterfly they commissioned in recognition of the support that residents have given the business community, sees a potential problem for bidders.
“Obviously space is going to be an issue for anyone who purchases them,” he said. “We’re still figuring out what we’re going to do with ours.”
Hafford suggests putting a butterfly on a lawn or in the lobby of an office building or hanging it outside a store — or use it as a clothes rack, she said. “It’s a lot cheaper than throwing your clothes over a treadmill.”
The minimum bid will be $300. Butterflies that fail to draw at least that amount will be auctioned off during the Towsontown Spring Festival during the first weekend of May next year.
The highest bidder will be honored during the Towson Chamber’s holiday party in December with “kind words, a free meal, as much booze and he or she wants and a designated driver,” Hafford said.
The artist who created the butterfly that gets the highest bid gets a free booth at the spring festival, Hafford said.
All proceeds go to supporting the services and events the chamber provides for Towson, she said, which include Towson Clean-up Day, the holiday tree-lighting ceremony and the Feet on the Street block parties.
She noted the chamber does receive grants but “when we get grants we usually only get 85 percent of the cost of the event, and we have to kick in the other 15 percent,” she said.
She is hoping for a bidding war during the auction, she said, noting maybe Recher’s bar and theater will bid against Charles Village Pub for the Charles Village Pub butterfly.”
The project has been “a wonderful success,” she said. “We planned on having only 15 butterflies, but ended up with 30 because there were so many sponsors interested in the revitalization of Towson.”
user comments (0)
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement