Looking Back On The Auction

Jennifer Schick

Jennifer Schick is a Drexel MS candidate currently working on her thesis. She is the Operations and Exhibitions Manager at InLiquid, a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to providing opportunities and exposure for visual artists and designers, serving as a free public hub for arts information and resources, and making the visual arts more accessible to a broader audience. More than just an online presence, InLiquid also nurtures the creative community through a continuing series of venue-based art exhibitions and events.

The Arts Administration Graduate Association’s Annual Art Auction is familiar to many who read this newsletter. For those of you who are new to Artsline, the auction is organized by the Drexel arts administration graduate students in order to raise money to send students to National Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. each spring. Every year many artists and organizations donate their artwork, theater tickets, gift certificates and more to this great cause, while guests are entertained with music, food, drink, and conversation. This has traditionally been the largest public event hosted by any student organization at Drexel.

For those who have attended the AAGA Art Auction, first I say thank you! Whether you are alum, a student, a donor, faculty, or a guest, your attendance impacted the event and the cause tremendously. Those of us who have had the opportunity to organize the auction in years past, I am sure we can all say how rewarding and challenging it was. The planning involved goes well beyond the one night event. From making decisions on a location and music, to recruiting, training, and organizing volunteers, the art auction is a big and time consuming event for those involved. During my term, one of our biggest challenges, at first, was finding enough artists to donate. Typically, we use our personal resources, as well as assistance from fellow students to find artists willing to donate. In the end, the 7th Annual Art Auction received the highest number of artworks ever - and I am confident this year will be as successful.

For a volunteer board, the AAGA is a strong and talented group of students who are dedicated to not only hosting a fabulous event, but who care deeply about Drexel’s Arts Administration community. The hours the board spends on planning and organizing are astounding as it is in addition to their schoolwork and lives outside of the program. I can definitely say from experience, that while is was extremely hard and challenging work, it prepared me in many ways I could never imagine and was very rewarding. I wouldn’t change the experience for anything, and grew so much professionally through it all. The effort that goes into this event, including the planning, teamwork, and organizing involved, prepared me for the challenges I faced once I began my current position as Operations and Exhibitions Manager at InLiquid.

I started my position three short months before InLiquid’s 11th Annual Silent Auction and Benefit. The event is about three times the size of the AAGA’s auction, and hosts a full week of events and programming. The sheer size of the event, in combination of a staff one-quarter the size of the AAGA board made for a challenging experience. However, while some logistics differed between the two events, and our small staff are full time employees compared to the volunteer AAGA board, the overall work and experience is very similar. Serving on the AAGA and organizing the 6th and 7th annual art auctions positioned me well to jump into the preparation for an event where the planning was well under way at least six months before I began my position. 

When you attend the auction this year (and I urge all of you reading this to do so), as you enjoy yourself and bid high on the fabulous artwork in the new venue at The Gallery, take a moment to look around to notice all the effort that was put into this one-night event. Find an AAGA board member and thank them. They have spent countless hours on the event, which raises crucial funds for students to travel to Washington to advocate for the arts. That is, after all, where our passions and jobs are. 

See you there!