Sunset River Gallery in Calabash, NC will host Hearts + Arts, the gallery’s first annual fundraiser, on June 2 from 5 – 7 p.m. This year’s beneficiary is Lower Cape Fear LifeCare, the area’s largest nonprofit provider of hospice, palliative, and grief care covering Brunswick, New Hanover, Columbus, Pender, Onslow, Robeson, Bladen, and Duplin Counties in North Carolina; and Horry, Georgetown, and Marion Counties in South Carolina.
Tickets are $20 per person. The evening will include entertainment by the AfterHours jazz ensemble, heavy hors d’oeuvres by local chef Philip Laura, complimentary wine bar and a fine art silent auction. One hundred percent of ticket and auction sales will go to Lower Cape Fear LifeCare.
Fine art pieces for the silent auction include works by some of the area’s most acclaimed artists. Marcus McClanahan’s “Two Boats” is an oil painting on board, which demonstrates McClanahan’s signature brushstrokes and broken color. Janet B. Sessoms, known for her mastery of light and shadow also donated an oil painting, “Toes in the Sand II.” The gallery’s former owner Ginny Lassiter donated a pair of her seemingly spontaneous acrylic abstracts titled “Day at the Beach I and II.” Raleigh, NC artist Chantal Tomiello’s offering is “La Vie En Rose,” a large acrylic still life in which she has deconstructed her realistic subject into abstraction. Ruth Cox, who teaches both acrylic and oil at the gallery, has donated her acrylic painting “Peaceful Moment” for the event. Rich Flanegan’s, “Dusk on the Coast,” is oil on canvas and depicts a coastal scene resplendent with white capped waves and moving clouds. From stained glass artists Diane Flanegan comes a 20- x 20-inch brilliantly colored floral panel. Also up for auction is a generous $1,000 gift certificate for a photo session with Vann Fine Art Portraits of Elizabethtown, NC.
Pottery lovers will not be disappointed. The grouping includes a surface-carved 15-inch cobalt platter from Jeffcoat Pottery. This came from the collection of Tonda Jeffcoat, whose husband and pottery-making partner Joe passed away in 2020. Wilmington, NC clay artist Brian Evans donated a tall (23-inch) faceted vessel for the auction. Betsy Sellers, whose father was served by Lower Cape Fear LifeCare, created her piece, “Remembering Daddy” in clay, especially for this event.
Tickets are available through the gallery, which is located at 10283 Beach Drive SW in Calabash, NC. Checks and cash are requested. For further information, call the gallery at 910.575.5999 or visit the website: sunsetrivergallery.com. Updates and images of the Fine Art Silent Auction pieces may be found on the gallery’s Facebook page.
The gallery wishes to thank the event’s generous sponsors: Gold: Victoria’s Ragpatch, Calabash Creamery; Silver: Studio 8, Mike & Deb Hutchinson, Ginny & Joe Lassiter, Roseann Cutrone & Larry Johnson; Bronze: Crissy & Trey Maynard, Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage; Family: The Yardbird Emporium, Thomas Seashore Drugs