Heart art benefits Memphis Child Advocacy Center

Carroll Todd

Combine a good cause with good art and what do you get? The Works of Heart Valentine Auction, a benefit for the Memphis Child Advocacy Center that has become a tradition fast approaching two decades on the local arts scene.

Carroll Todd

Danny Broadway

David Lynch

K. King Gillis

Suzanne Landers

Cindy Sharpe

The 18th annual silent auction, emceed by WMC-TV Channel 5 news anchor Joe Birch, will be held 7-10 p.m. Saturday at the Memphis College of Art, 1930 Poplar, where some 110 works of art are up for bid; the $50 ticket price includes complimentary wine, beer and appetizers. Proceeds help the center's mission serving children "who are victims of sexual and severe physical abuse through prevention, education and intervention," according to its Web site (memphiscac.org).

"In the beginning we really had to convince artists to do this," says event chair and Child Advocacy Center board member Murray Riss, who adds that these days, artists are the ones who ask to be involved. "When we hang the show, the first people who come and look at it are artists. It's become a challenge because artists love the idea that everybody starts on the same spot, and then they can see how everyone else's imagination worked."

More than 100 artists -- including Freida Hamm, George Hunt, David Mah, John McIntire, John Robinette and Dolph Smith -- have offered interpretative variations on the wooden heart concept ranging from Carroll Todd's whimsical sculpture "Heart Repair" to David Lynch's scenic cityscape "In the Heart of Memphis" to Cindy Sharpe's literal interpretation of the phrase "Heart Strings."

Special to the event is the pairing of artist couples in the creation of heart-themed pieces. This year's collaborative couples include: Brin and Dale Baucum, Ashley Chavis and Virginia Rougon Chavis, Maritza Davila and Jon Sparks, Patti Lechman and Bert Sharpe, Sam and Jean Moss, Sheri Rieth and Tom Lee, and Gary and Teri White.

Also among this year's participants is returning artist Mahaffey White, who at 98 is arguably the veteran of the show.

"It is an opportunity for artists to contribute to an event that is very helpful to the community," says White, who has contributed heart art for almost a decade.

Her signature design for the show continues to be a miniature chess set consisting of a heart-shaped painted game board and free-standing chess pieces which she molded, this year, from a type of baked clay.

"The pieces actually move so you really can play with it, but you have to be very careful because they're tiny," she says. "People have liked it and I've liked very much doing it since it seems to be something that sells."

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Works of Heart Valentine Auction

The event is 7-10 p.m. Saturday at the Memphis College of Art, 1930 Poplar Ave. Tickets are $50 and include complimentary wine, beer and appetizers. Art can also be previewed today for absentee bidding. For more information or to purchase advance tickets, go to memphiscac.org or e-mail Laura Terry at lterry@memphiscac.org.

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