This year, the Evanston Community Development Corporation has decided not to take a stand for charity. Rather, they are choosing to take a seat.
In what they are calling their “CHAIRity Auction,” the corporation will be auctioning off old chairs to anyone willing to donate to the corporation.
From Nov. 23 to 25, local artists throughout Evanston will pick up old chairs Evanston residents have donated and add their own creative touch to the seat, creating something that will be auctioned off during the Outstanding Citizen’s Award Dinner on Feb. 27 of next year.
“We’re expecting people to take a plain old chair and come back with whatever creative piece they can come up with,” said Program Manager Precious Wright.
Evanston Community Development Corporation is an organization that focuses on business, economic and workforce development in Evanston, Wright said.
“We’re looking at green design and renewable energy that will, in the long run, make housing affordable,” said Executive Director Diane Lupke. “We want to revitalize Evanston physically, economically and in spirit.”
This is the third annual auction the corporation has put on, Wright said, but this year the theme has changed.
“Last year was a silent auction, but we decided to go with something different,” she said. “Our organization is trying to move with the Evanston flow and be green too.”
The auction’s use of not only old chairs, but also throwaway items and secondhand objects, is part of the new theme, “Creating Change Through Activism.” Artists will be recycling unwanted items and turning them into pieces of art.
“This auction is basically about taking something that was a throwaway object, and make it into something that can function,” said Lupke. “And if it fits with our mission, then it’s even better.”
Last week, the Evanston city council passed the Green Ordinance, a progressive piece of legislation in the area of energy sustainability. Since then, the “green” bug has been spreading all throughout Evanston.
“There’s a correlation between the theme of our auction and Evanston’s green legislation,” said Micere Keels, a corporation board member. “It’s tied with what ECDC is trying to do.”
The corporation will be working with the Evanston Art Center and the Open Studio Project to find artists willing to volunteer, Lupke said. The deadline for the completion of the chairs is Feb. 15.
The auction will also provide an opportunity for the community to familiarize itself with the local artists and understand the mission behind their work, said Keels.
“We would love to have artists from the Northwestern community,” Lupke said. “The CHAIRity Auction is a way to celebrate the art community and activism.”
The finished chairs will be on display at the First Bank and Trust branches in Evanston and Chicago from Feb. 15 to 26.
“We’d love some Northwestern students to come and get a chair and get involved,” Wright said.
