The children and staff of the Sunrise Early Learning and Teen Support Centre are preparing to hold an Art Gala and Fundraising Auction, to help provide the day care with a new outdoor play space.
The gala is set for Saturday, May 27 at the Legion Hall, and the plans are for this to be a black-tie affair including a live and silent auction, with entertainment to be provided by singer Lexie Tytlandsvik. Winston Bailey will do the live auction of art and other items.
The evening will open with cocktails at 5 and supper at 6 p.m., followed by the entertainment and auction.
Art work to be auctioned off will be provided both by children of the day care, and by members of the Weyburn Arts Council, said Jessica Maas, staff member and coordinator of the fundraising committee.
A special feature of the event will be a live art creation, as Regan Lanning, artist and executive director of the Weyburn Arts Council, will work on an art piece throughout the evening, with the finished piece to be auctioned off.
With the children of the day care working on producing art pieces that will be auctioned off, this invests the children in the whole fundraising effort, said Maas.
“The idea is to give the kids the value and respect that their art is just as important as anyone else’s. We’ve been talking to the kids about why we’ve been doing this, to give them a positive role, that their art matters,” said Maas.
The goal of the fundraising is to revamp the outdoor play space with new landscaping and equipment, “so that we can make an outdoor space that reflects what we do at the centre,” said Maas, noting it will include the policy of play-based learning that the staff focuses on with the children.
To help with the gala, some community support has already been coming in, with Great Plains Ford providing a donation of $200 and the Arts Council $100 to go towards buying art supplies for the children to use.
In addition, some Saskatchewan artists have donated albums and merchandise that will be auctioned off, and curler Brendan Jones has donated autographed curling items to also be auctioned.
This concept of an art gala with community involvement has been percolating for a long time, said Maas, as she and day care director Lori Hiltz have been talking about it and planning it for a while.
Tickets are $40 each or $70 per couple, with corporate tables of eight costing $300.
The tickets are available at the Sunrise day care office, located at the Weyburn Comp School. For tickets, call the centre at 306-848-4708.
