Harper College hosts art fundraiser

Harper College in Palatine boasts one of the most extensive art collections in the Northwest suburbs — and among area colleges and universities.

More than 300 pieces can be found across the campus — valued at $2.7 million — from its large scale outdoor sculpture, to 2-dimensional pieces throughout the academic buildings.

All of which made its fundraiser Saturday night, a natural.

Members of the Harper College Educational Foundation mounted its first fine art auction. “ArtMatters” featured works donated by professional artists, faculty members and art majors at the college.

Their goal was to support student initiatives in art, as well as to preserve pieces in the college's collection.

Some of the larger pieces up for auction included a watercolor painting mounted on linen by artist Robert Stackhouse. The painting, “Ghost Chicago Structure” is a rendering of the outdoor sculpture, Chicago Structure, located behind Building A on the Harper campus that Stackhouse created for the college. It wound up going for $5,600 which was the largest single auction item of the night.

Another piece, “Garden 9,” by South Barrington artist Bill Stone, was the largest piece in the auction. The oil painting on canvas featured vibrant flowers, that drew guests to it, with its mix of color, texture and movement.

The auction alone netted $22,000. Overall, auction organizers said they raised nearly $32,000.

Robert O'Connell served as auctioneer. He is a serious collector who runs a Chicago art gallery, The Architrouve, dedicated to showcasing local artists.

“You have a great range here,” O'Connell said, “of well-known, established artists as well as emerging ones, with a preponderance of Chicago artists.”

Guest Carol Pankros of Palatine conceded she was not a serious collector, but she wanted to support the program.

“I love the variety of multimedia that's there,” Pankros said.

The auction took place in the Wojcik Conference Center at Harper, and offered guests a buffet of hors d'oeuvres before they entered the gallery space, where they could peruse more than 60 pieces while a pair of Harper instructors, Ken Spurr and Peter Aglinskas, played light jazz in the background.

Faculty members said maintaining the college's collection is costly. From cleaning and repairing the outdoor sculpture pieces, to replacing matting on the paintings with acid free materials, the work adds up.

“It's very frustrating when art that is on public view, is not properly preserved,” said Perry Pollock, associate art professor.

Yet, college officials stressed the campus is not a museum. They make the art pieces visible and accessible to students, they said, as a way of encouraging creativity, as well as developing cognitive and critical thinking skills.

“In the landscape of higher education, I can't think of any other university that has committed to putting art in front of students, the way we have here,” said Dr. Kenneth Ender, Harper president.

A portion of the proceeds from the event was earmarked for the art program at the college and student scholarships. Faculty members said that there are 100 art majors on campus, but more than 800 students per semester taking art classes.

“Many students take art as an elective or to fulfill a fine arts requirement, while some just want to experience an art class if they haven't taken it in high school,” said Margaret Buchen, curator of the college's collection. “It's a very popular department.”