The Springs Mystery Art Sale is returning to Ashawagh Hall on the weekend of Jun 7 and 8. There will be around 900 individual pieces of art for sale, with each 5×7-inch artwork costing $20. A piece could be made by a student or one of many well-known local artists whose paintings sell for thousands. Buyers won’t know which until the closing party on Saturday night.
Casey Dalene, the show’s benefit chair and a member of the Springs School Parent Teacher Asociation, said, “There was a group of parents who used to run this event every year and it obviously stopped because of COVID for a little while, and now I have decided to bring it back.”
Dalene added that she has a background working at galleries and museums, as well as individual artists, and stated: “I’m a curator and art advisor so it’s kind of up my alley… we’ve been talking about doing this for a few years, just trying to find who would do it or whatnot. I’m very excited to bring it back this year.”
Since the wildly popular first Springs Mystery Art Sale that took place in 2014, the event has led to all the students at Springs School to work with their art teachers to produce postcard-sized works. This has resulted in a total of 700 pieces in the show made by kids through the pre-K to eighth-grade school levels.
Dalene says that she then “also reached out to artists of the area to produce” and said that around 150-200 pieces are by “more professional adult artists.”
Among those participating are names such as the world-famous painter April Gornik, Montauk photographer James Katsipis, and printmaker Kym Fulmer, plus Springs School art teacher Laura Merino.
Meanwhile, accomplished artists have donated around 20 full-sized pieces that will bear their names and will be given to the highest bidder in a silent auction.
Each piece in the main sale will be $20, and Dalene noted that all proceeds will go to benefit art education at the Springs School.
“I’m working with the art teachers to decide what exactly that’s going to look like, but we have a lot of ideas. They do some art-related field trips they need funding for. I know that they are interested in acquiring a kiln at some point, so I’d love to help with that,” she stated and noted that, even despite the recent growth of their PTA, Springs is in great need.
Dalene, who has a son in the third grade and a daughter in the fifth grade, said: “Springs School is amazing. Unfortunately, we don’t have a big business district in Springs and it’s just underfunded compared to our neighboring districts, and we have a lot of kids.”
“We do pre-K through eighth,” she went on to add. “It’s a big school. We accomplish a lot for very little and I know there’s great need, so our PTA is really trying to expand our fundraising opportunities. I offered to bring back the sale because it’s already so popular, it already has such a great following — I knew people would recognize the question marks as they went up around town.”
The Springs Mystery Art Sale will be open to the public on Friday, June 7 from 5-8 PM, and will continue Saturday from 11 AM to 5 PM at Ashawagh Hall (located at 780 Springs Fireplace Road). A closing party will feature non-alcoholic “toasts to the artists” at 5 PM on Saturday, and will continue with names of the artists revealed through 8 PM. Artwork can be picked up from 10 AM to 12 PM on Sunday, June 9.
Springs School students will visit the show from noon to 3 PM on Thursday, June 6, and 9 AM to 3 PM on Friday, June 7, before the public attends.
Dalene stated that she’s “sure people are going to want to be first in line to get in there.”
Artists who are interested in participating in the Springs Mystery Art Sale can email [email protected].
