January 2, 2002

MASS MoCA Posts First Ever Online Auction

(North Adams, MA) MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) will kick off the new year with its first ever online auction going live on Wednesday, December 28. The auction, which features more than 20 different items ranging from exotic vacations to original art, to private art tours, to dinner with celebrities, will be available for browsing and bidding through www.massmoca.org.

"This is an enticing, wonderfully quixotic lot of auction items, many of which simply aren't available anywhere else. A few items will close out during a live auction as part of our Fire and Ice: A Winter Ball, but most of the offerings will close at the end of January," commented Joseph Thompson, director of MASS MoCA. "This is a first for us. We'll also take care of bidders who do not have easy computer access who can call 413.664.4481 X8100 to place a proxy bid by phone."

Highlights of the auction include:

* Dinner at the ball with the star of Broadway's Hedda Gabler actress Kate Burton and Williamstown Theater Festival producer Michael Ritchie. The daughter of Richard Burton, Kate has received rave reviews for her performance in Ibsen's classic. The New York Times gushed, "When Kate Burton makes her entrance as Hedda Gabler there is the unmistakable sense that a star has swept onto the stage of the Ambassador Theater."

* A week at a fully staffed villa on the very exclusive Caribbean island of Mustique. Mustique is a secluded 1,400 acre island surrounded by beaches of pure white sand. This private retreat of barefoot luxury is the escape of choice for celebrities and royalty from Mick Jagger and David Bowie to Princess Margaret and is a peaceful setting to rest, recuperate and indulge. With a cook, butler, and housekeeper, the highest bidder will be taken care of in style.

* An original artwork by Gregory Crewdson. Crewdson has shot several of his eerie still lifes at MASS MoCA and was recently featured in The New York Times Magazine. Crewdson is known for photographs produced on a feature-film scale, often requiring massive cranes and lights, and a large crew. This framed C-print, shot in Lee, Massachusetts, measures 20 x 24 inches and is the last available print from Crewdson's career-launching 1988 exhibition at Yale that established him as a sophisticated observer of America's "suburban gothic" landscapes.

* A giant made-to-last CedarWorks swing set. Manufactured in Maine from splinter-free northern white cedar, CedarWorks makes the only playset to receive an award from the Parents' Choice Foundation.

* A case of 1970 Chateau Figeac and a case of 1988 Opus One. 1970 Figeac is a rare vintage from one of the best vineyards in the St. Emilion district adjoining Cheval Blanc. Robert Parker gave the wine a 90 and it has been held unopened in its original wooden case in a wine cellar. The 1988 Opus One from California's legendary winery was the only Cabernet Sauvignon of 1988 to earn a three- star rating from Connoisseurs' Guide and has also been carefully cellared.

* A long weekend in a New York penthouse and tickets to Broadway's Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning play Proof. The Gramercy Park penthouse sleeps six and has a private roof deck overlooking Park Avenue. In addition to the tickets for this acclaimed play starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, the winning bidder will receive a Proof poster signed by playwright David Auburn.

* A rare sneak preview of the Roden Crater in Arizona with artist James Turrell. The New York Times says, "Roden will almost certainly turn out to be the first, great enduring work of the new century." Since 1972, Turrell has been working to transform this natural cinder volcano situated on the edge of the Painted Desert in Arizona into a large-scale artwork that relates, through the medium of light, to the universe of the surrounding sky, land, and culture. Turrell's project is under construction, with Phase I completed, but it's not scheduled for public access until 2003.

"We are very pleased to have assembled such an incredibly varied list of items and deeply appreciate our gala committee's hard work in helping to put together the auction," said Jennifer Trainer, director of external affairs at MASS MoCA. "This should be an important fundraiser for exhibitons at MASS MoCA."

MASS MoCA's first online auction site was developed by gala committee member Eyal Rimmon and created by Nick Branstator and Beth Budwig. All three are of RadioVoodoo, a Williamstown-based developer of interactive software for the radio industry.

Sponsors for Fire & Ice are Hoosac Bank, Berkshire Gas, Bennington Potters, and Classical Tents and Party Goods. Gala supporters include Banknorth Massachusetts, Arrow Press, and Springfield Printing. Gala benefactors include Transport the People, Greylock Federal Credit Union, and Alton & Westall Real Estate.

Tickets for the gala and additional information about the auction are available by calling 413.664.4481 x8100. A printed detailed list of all auction items is available from MASS MoCA; those who don't have internet access or who are not able to attend the gala can enter proxy bids by calling the same number. Proxy bids made online will be recognized during the live auction for those select items that will close during the Fire & Ice Winter Ball.

MASS MoCA, the largest center for contemporary visual and performing arts in the United States, is located on Marshall Street in North Adams on a 13-acre campus of renovated 19th-century factory buildings.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Katherine Myers
(413) 664-4481 x8113
katherine@massmoca.org