By Shakira Ericksen and James Brown
In:Site staff reporters
Finding space and funding to make art can be challenging, but Faire Gallery Café provides both. Faire’s third anniversary art auction took place Saturday, at which 48 works by local artists were available for bidding. About 70 art appreciators came throughout the night to enjoy the live jazz and oust one another in the silent auction, raising more than $1500.
The proceeds go toward Faire’s operating costs, but this year some of the money will be returned back to the art community. Owner Elisheba Drayton will award $250 each to a theater, visual art and music project. These grants are to further her vision of Faire as a multi-use space for all creative disciplines to utilize and interact.
“We’re like Gertrude Stein in Paris back in the ’30s,” Drayton said. “There was Hemingway, who was writing, and Picasso, who was painting, and people who love art can hang out in here and create and share ideas.”
Faire has hosted more than 100 musical events and 30 to 40 art shows, as well as dance and theater performances. Drayton’s inspiration for Faire—which means “to make” in French—came while she was in college. She graduated from the painting and sculpture program at Cornish College of the Arts, but said the college’s departments often intermix; a designer, for instance, might take a music course to enrich his or her primary discipline. Faire was the next step to bring this kind of camaraderie to the larger arts community.
Jonathon Woodward, a 23-year-old Capitol Hill resident, came to the auction to support Faire, his coffee shop of choice.
“It’s a great space,” he said. “You never know what kind of music, or anything, you’ll find. Even if it’s something you’ve never heard of, if you give it a shot you might love it.”
Woodward bid on several works at Saturday’s auction, such as Charles Johnson’s drawing “Panther Paws,” but was outbid on each item. Johnson’s piece sold for $54.55.
The works were split between the lower café area and its lounge-like upper balcony. The building was filled with jazz music, soft lighting and patrons chatting and appreciating the artwork. The mood was reminiscent of a European restaurant, down to a gourmet sandwich menu and specialty mocha with Italian-made Nutella. Drayton, a confessed Francophile, wanted to create a space and community of artist interaction worthy of a Paris café.
Faire is always showcasing a local visual artist’s work, and typically offers live music several nights a week. In addition, the café hosts a variety of other events that range from figure-drawing classes with a live model to lessons in Korean cooking. Even with such diverse offerings, Drayton is always looking to provide space for fresh work.
“We keep wanting to have new, experimental things,” she said.
