8th Annual Relay For Life Art Auction at North Gwinnett High School
BY: Debi West; NGHS Visual Art Department Chair
North Gwinnett High School has been hosting its annual Relay for Life Art Auction since 2008, and each year we have enjoyed watching it grow into one of the largest Relay for Life events at our school. We currently have over 400 Visual Art students, and this lesson involves each student “finding” a client then creating a piece of custom art for them and naming a price.
The Purpose: This process teaches our students about careers in the Fine Arts and helps them develop their personal styles and skill-sets. Clients range from family members, to our North Gwinnett staff members, to community members, and local businesses.
Then, the art pieces are auctioned off in a 1-hour event, where bidding wars are encouraged. So, students must remind their clients that they might get outbid.
How it Works: Typically participants end up donating more to the Relay for Life team in order to receive their customer piece of art, or they go with other art pieces that they love. Either way, it’s a win/ win situation with each artist and client going home happy, with the knowledge that their efforts made a difference in the world.
The Outcome: Over the past 8 years NGHS has raised over $50,000 for the Relay team. This year was another incredible event that was help on April 2nd, 2015. Over 1,000 community members packed the North Gwinnett Commons and raised over $7,500 for Relay for Life this year!
