Powerhouses Ooh!media and the Urban Art Foundation have launched an ‘Art In Isolation’ exhibition and auction to support local artists and raise funds for Ooh!media charity partner Youthline.
Beginning on June 5, the auction is currently underway and will run for six days on TradeMe’s platform. The exhibition consists of a total of 11 artworks, nine being donated from local artists and created during the first four weeks of Alert Level Four. The other two artworks are from seven year old Charlie McCartney and renowned Kiwi artist and Urban Art Foundation board member Karl Maughan.
Nick Vile, oOh!media general manager, says the artists donating to the auction were a part of the original ‘Art In Isolation’ exhibition that was displayed across the country using Ooh!media’s digital screens during March and April this year.
Read more: oOh!media’s ‘Isolation art’ paints the town
“The artists involved in that campaign were contacted and many pieces that hadn’t already sold, were then happily donated to the cause.
“Consequently we had an additional two artwork inclusions that were not a part of the original campaign. Karl Maughan volunteered an original oil painting to the auction, set at $1 reserve, and seven-year-old Charlie McCartney, who reached out to oOh!media to see if her art could be included on the original digital screens, however, was contacted to be a part of the auction.”
Vile says having worked with both UAF and Youthline previously and having seen the increased demand for Youthline services, it was important the initiative moved quickly.
Now, Ooh!media are using over 600 of their street furniture digital panels to aid awareness and drive traffic to the TradeMe auction. General manager Nick Vile says the work that the Urban Art Foundation does to support local artists is fantastic, making them a great partner to work with.
“To be able to partner with them again, this time in support of our charity partner Youthline just shows how invested they are in our community.”
“When discussing how we could give back, it was a no brainer to use what we had already created during isolation and use our network of street furniture digital panels to help raise awareness and generate support for both our local art community and the youth of New Zealand.”
TradeMe has also extended its support by dropping its usual fees and promoting the auction through its own channels at zero cost.
“We’re stoked to be able to help such a great cause; it’s the least we can do,” says head of comms and community at TradeMe, Logan Mudge.
With a variety of exceptional artwork, the teams at Ooh!media and the Urban Art Foundation have high hopes for the amount of money the auction could raise.
“Karl Maughan is known to sell art anywhere up to $30k and with a $1 reserve on an original, we hope we’ll be able to drive enough bids to give a healthy donation to our partner charity Youthline from his piece,” says Vile.
“The reserve prices artists set is the artists money to keep. Anything earned above the reserve goes to Youthline. We felt this was important to recognise and also support creative enterprise during such a difficult time.”
oOh!media says if the auction is as successful as they hope it will be for Youthline, then they will looking into future campaigns.
Bids can be place until Thursday 11 June, 8:30pm
Head to TradeMe
