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Giving it Away
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Did the consulting firm then turn around and pay me? Of course not. But I felt better.
A few weeks later, one of our wedding venues came sniffing around for free use of one of our photos for use on a website that was to promote their location.
Read: Promote them.
Not us.
No payment.
No way.
But, of course, not everything is measured in dollars and cents and this is where my artist/correspondent and I part company. In fact, I believe that "art and auctions DO mix," or at least can mix when an artist supports the cause being promoted and willingly -- even happily -- views his or her contribution of artwork as being even more meaningful than a simple monetary donation.
That's what happened for many of us this summer when we got together to hold the first-ever "Art & Things Auction" to support efforts to restore the McCurdy Smokehouse complex that anchors the small downtown of Lubec, Maine, the easternmost town in the United States, on the Lubec narrows between the US and Campobello, New Brunswick. McCurdy's was the last operating herring smokehouse in the US before it was forced to shut down (wrongfully, it turned out) by the federal government over issues of health and safety. The once-gorgeous red-trimmed and cedar-shingled smokehouses, pickling shed and other buildings fell into disrepair in the late 90s -- one building even collapsed into the sea. But after a while a group of concerned folks -- locals and those of us "from away," formed Lubec Landmarks, Inc. to try to restore the complex and turn it into a tourist venue with a museum and shops.
It has been a very hard slog, occasionally helped by grant money, but mostly it has been a homegrown effort to hold onto this important part of Lubec's history and heritage.
It is a cause that my wife Judy and I support, as do many -- though obviously not all -- of our artist friends and colleagues.
Those who view future Art & Things auctions as yet another way to exploit artists are free to say no thank you when the phone rings.
The rest of us are free to say yes. The important thing is that each of us can respond as we please.
