'Lots' of fun
Mary Hare School was absolutely delighted when Dreweatts auctioneers decided to make them charity of the year 2019. As part of this initiative, Dreweatts hosted a truly exceptional Charity Art Auction on 2nd September 2019, in collaboration with Pippa Middleton, Ambassador to Mary Hare School, and over 25 esteemed and upcoming artists to raise essential funds for a new Mary Hare Primary School for deaf children across the UK. 'I was absolutely delighted to be asked to be involved with this very special auction of art. I want to thank all the artists who gave so generously to make it possible and Dreweatts for all their help with the event.' - Pippa Middleton, Ambassador.
Pippa started the proceedings off by agreeing to be the auctioneer for the first Lot. This was one of a limited edition of 50 sculptures by Sophie Ryder, cast especially for the Mary Hare appeal. This Lot included a signed sketch by the artist and certificate of authenticity.
There were 29 Lots in all and the total raised on the evening was £30,000. Dreweatts agreed to waive all the usual fees for the evening and the guests really threw themselves into proceedings. Lots included work by world renowned figurative artists Jonathan Yeo, bronzes by Mark Coreth and Hamish Mackie and an oil painting by British singer/songwriter David Gray.
Lots 28 and 29 were produced by the Mary Hare School pupils themselves. 'Hearts' was a collaborative piece produced by the children at the Primary School.
'I am not sure I would want to start a new career as an auctioneer' said Pippa after the event, 'but it was a lot of fun. The guests and bidders present entered into the spririt of the occasion and I am so pleased with the contribution we have made towards the Mary Hare Primary School Appeal.'
Will Richards, Deputy Chairman of Dreweatts and auctioneer at the event said, 'We were thrilled to host such a successful evening for Mary Hare School. We were very grateful that so many well regarded artists donated so generously to the auction. This and the good will of all the bidders resulted in a very enjoyable evening and some important funds raised for the new Mary Hare Primary School.'
Peter Gale, Principal and CEO commented, 'Seeing the pupils from the Primary School acting as porters and holding up the beautiful works of art at our auction, filled me with pride. And seeing the artists who supported the event and all those who came to bid reminded me that there is so much support in the community for the work we do. I just want to say thank you to all of them, and Dreweatts auctioneers, for helping us to raise another significant contribution to our Primary School Appeal.
Mary Hare is currently raising funds to build a new, national Primary School for deaf children in the UK. We need to raise £3million towards this project, with the balance coming from the sale of the old school building that currently houses the Primary School.
Copyright Photo by Les Wilson
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