Art + kindness = magic
Hobbyists and pros join forces for Exhibit A, a fundraiser at Peter Clarke Art Centre, in support of art education programme
The opening night of Exhibit A, the Peter Clarke Art Centre's charity art exhibition, was filled with colour, laughter, good music and some down-to-the-wire bidding drama. The exhibition features 400 artworks from 62 South African artists. Julia Norrish, who was there, submitted this review.
The artists ranged from hobbyists to professionals who are already garnering global recognition. What they had in common was that all of them had responded to an open call to submit art to raise funds for Peter Clarke’s bursary programme. This programme enables the art centre to provide high-quality art education, free of charge to hundreds of children, from preschool to matric.
The Peter Clarke Art Centre (formerly Frank Joubert) is a Cape Town institution that has seen many future artists come through its doors to receive the tuition of brilliant teaching staff, often practising artists themselves.
On a warm, still Friday evening in May, Cape Town’s art aficionados filled the halls of the beautiful Vredenhof building, spilling over onto the wooden balconies and marble stoep. All eyes were on the silent auction pieces and bidders had their assigned-numbers at the ready.
Cindie Ah Ling, principal of the school, welcomed everyone to the special occasion: “Thank you for supporting the arts. We encourage you to support us and the artists from across the country who generously submitted art. Exhibit A will become an annual item on the local art calendar.”
After that, attendees had an hour to silently add their bids to sheets alongside the artworks by names such as Fanie Buys, Andrew Mokgatla, Alex Abrahams and Amy Rusch. A piece by Solly Gutman had bidders on the floor at the final minute, scrambling to be the last name on the bid sheet.
In addition to the silent auction pieces, the exhibition features a curated selection of works that will remain on sale until Friday June 13.
Julia Norrish, perusing the work in the photo above, was a Peter Clarke high school student and continues to attend painting classes there. She submitted two works to the exhibition (🥂both were sold🥂).
Visit the Exhibition
Exhibit A is open to the public at the Peter Clarke Art Centre, Vredenhof, Keurboom Road, Newlands, Cape Town. 100% of proceeds from the silent auction and 30% of art sales will directly go to sustaining the centre’s bursary programme. For more information, contact the centre on 021 683 2720 or email.