Chairs from the Canyons’ Resort’s dismantled Golden Eagle ski lift served as mechanical canvases for this year’s Kimball Art Center fundraising event, hosted by Scott Wolf, star of ABC-TV’s program, “V.”
“The Chairity Lift Event,” which will take place at the Grand Summit ballroom at Canyons Resort, Friday, Dec. 17, will feature 40 pieces of art that was created from the ski lift chairs.
The Kimball Art Center contacted 20 businesses and 20 artists to collaborate on creating works of art out of the chairs for the fundraiser auction. Some chairs will be on auction at www.ebay.com while others will be auctioned live at Canyons.
Seventy-five percent of money raised from each chair will be used by the Kimball Art Center to continue its free, year-round exhibitions and education programs. The remaining 25 percent of the proceeds will benefit charities of the participating artists’ and business’ choice.
Waterbox, a Park City-based company that creates artistic and functional water bottles, was contacted by the Kimball Art Center to participate in the “Chairity Lift Event.”
“We leaped at the opportunity,” said Waterbox founder Canice Harte during an interview with The Park Record. “We’re excited beyond belief to get a chance to do this.
“At Waterbox, the bottles we make have plenty of function, but we specialize in the aesthetic beauty in the bottles’ forms and shapes,” Harte said. “We currently have 21 different types of art on our bottles.”
While art is part of Waterbox’s DNA, said Harte, the company also has two stated philanthropic goals.
“One is children’s art programs and the other is clean drinking water,” he said. “The Kimball Art Center offers many children’s art programs.”
The Waterbox chair is called “Aerie Perch,” Harte said.
“Anjel Vanslyke is our creative director,” Harte said. “She is a huge avian enthusiast and we reached out to Angel to come up with the concept and we rallied behind her.”
Vanslyke’s idea was to create a human-sized bird perch.
“We also folded 100 origami cranes that are part of a removable fly on the ski lift,” Harte said. “Everyone had a chance to have a hand in the process.”
The charity Waterbox chose to donate money to is called Mickaboo Companion Bird Rescue, in San Jose, Calif.
“It’s a bird refuge,” Harte said. “They take care of sick and wounded birds and it fits with our theme.”
Contract painter Bob Peek, who is also a visual artist, said he has been involved with the Kimball Art Center’s fundraisers before, and he is excited to participate in the Chairity Lift Event.
“I really enjoy the artistic process of making art,” he said.
Peek’s creation is called “Who’s Rik Shaw Anyway.”
“I brainstormed and came up with the idea of a rickshaw,” he said. “I felt like the artwork couldn’t be something that was stagnant. It had to be representative of something that was continually in motion.”
While Peek came up with the idea and design and did most of the artwork, he did have help.
“Mike Braun from Park City Iron Man did the welding on the chair and was super accommodating,” he said. “Chelsea Richter did the sewing for me and donated the time. It wasn’t something I expected, but she said it was a way for her to get involved in the event.”
Peek said the Kimball Art Center fundraisers are a way to give local people the opportunity to do something they wouldn’t typically do.
“Some don’t have the capacity to give money to charities,” he said. “So this is an easy way to do that.
“Also, fundraisers become community events,” he said. “They get the community rallying and give the artist a chance to give back.”
Peek will donate his 25 percent to DesignBuildBLUFF, an organization that sends architecture students to the Navajo reservation near Bluff, Utah, to guild homes for needy families.
“It’s a really cool and great thing they do and offer,” he said. “It’s a great place to put effort and money.”
“The Chairity Lift Event” will take place on Friday, Dec., 17, in the Grand Summit Ballroom at Canyons from 6:30 p.m. 10 p.m. Bryon Friedman will provide the night’s entertainment. Reservations are required and tickets are available $75. For more information visit www.kimballartcenter.org or call 649-8882.