More than 250 people attended the opening of the 26th annual Adams County Land Conservancy Art Auction Friday. On display were 127 artworks that had been donated by local artists and collectors. The collection includes watercolors and oil paintings, etchings, wooden bowls, textiles, jewelry, ceramics, photographs, silkscreen, and more.
All of the work is for sale and proceeds go to the Land Conservancy. Bids are being accepted at BiddingOwl.com/LCAC through April 19.
“We have made over $450,000 over the years from this auction,” said Bob Prosperi, LCAC auction coordinator. He was assisted by LCAC administrative coordinator Kathy Johnson, “who did all the thinking,” he added.
Two other events connected to the auction will take place at the art council—an Italian buffet, Wednesday from 12 to 1:30 p.m. featuring local chef Harry McCullough and a happy hour, April 19 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., when the auction ends.
The LCAC was created in 1995 as a nonprofit, nongovernmental land trust to help preserve lands that fall outside the purview of the Agricultural Land Preservation Program.
Its mission is to preserve the rural lands and character of Adams County. It currently holds more than 182 conservation easements, preserving more than 13,000 acres of woodlands, open spaces, farmlands, freshwater streams, and historic places.
In 2013 the LCAC was recognized through accreditation by the Land Trust Alliance, a nature conservation organization based in Washington, D.C. It won the Brian C. Pohanka Preservation Organization of the Year award in 2016. The following year, it was named a “certified entity” under the Natural Resources Conservation Service agricultural conservation easement program.
LCAC is a nonprofit organization, and besides the art auction, it hosts a summer picnic and a fall road rally.
Featured image caption: The 26th annual Land Conservancy Art auction opened Friday night at the Adams County Arts Council. From left, artists Andrea Theisson, Arlyn Pettingell, LCAC art auction coordinator Bob Prosperi and artist Freya Qually [Judith Cameron Seniura]
Judith Cameron Seniura is a freelance reporter. She began her journalism career in the early ‘70s and has written for newspapers, magazines, and other media in Ontario, Canada, Alaska, Michigan, Nebraska, San Antonio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.