Paddles up! Festival International annual art auction organizers expanded the offerings this year, and a lively group of invited guests stepped up to make it one of the most successful in Fest history.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Paddles up! Festival International annual art auction organizers expanded the offerings this year, and a lively group of invited guests stepped up to make it one of the most successful in Fest history. New Iberia collector Wyatt Collins paid top dollar for the 2012 collaborative piece by artists Megan Barras, Vergie Banks and Michelle Fontenot. The ladies pooled their creativity into a stunning 3-D piece titled "Window on the World," a perfect blend of each artist's trademark medium: Megan's silk collages, Vergie's colorful canvases and Michelle's multi-textured mosaics. All three also contributed a one-of-a-kind doodle treatment on custom-framed commemorative posters, which were snapped up by Jimmy Maillet, Kiki Frayard and Robert Finley. With donations from Zea, Vivian Alexander, Lee Michaels, and artists Donald Leblanc and Kelly Guidry (George Graham threw in a spontaneous dinner at his house), auctioneer Cherry Fisher May coaxed almost $20,000 in bids from the crowd gathered at the French Press to benefit the free event just voted Best World Music Festival.
(1) Prissy Wilson and Kiki Frayard (2) Dr. Gillian Redlich and George and Roxanne Graham (3) Jennifer Fontenot and Don Fontenot (4) Richard Young (5) Matt Fontenot, Jacob Godeaux and Jennifer Fontenot (6) Dana Baker and Tucker Sappington (7) Margaret Girouard (8) Auction participants ready to bid (9) Auctioneer Cherry Fisher May and Pio Reviere (10) Kiki Frayard celebrates a winning bid (11) Bonnie Fontenot, Mitzi Godeaux, Michelle Fontenot and Megan O'Cain (12) Michelle Fontenot, Wyatt and Betty Collins, Vergie Banks and Megan Barra (13) Post-auction cocktails in front of French Press (14) Betty Collins, Kim Neustrom, Michelle Fontenot and Vergie Banks
Photos by Denny Culbert
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