Traditional Chairful Auction Takes Different Form

Chairful Where You Sit, a one-day outdoor art installation and fundraiser for the Arlington Commission for Arts and Culture, traditionally coincides with Porchfest and takes place in a festive gathering at historic Uncle Sam Plaza, in the heart of the Arlington Center Cultural District. An auction of artistically transformed, "upcycled" chairs and other small furniture items rescued from basements and curbs has supported public art in in Arlington since 2012, and saved over 400 chairs from landfill.

In 2020, due to Covid-19, the event was re-envisioned as an online event, to be conducted on the Bidding Owl online auction platform, providing access to many more participants.

This year, with Delta variant concerns, the auction was modified into a hybrid experience, with an in-person preview exhibition held with live music and poetry in the open, airy space around Arlington's historic Jason Russell House, kicking off two weeks of online bidding.

According to auction planner Adria Arch, this year's selection was created by the broadest range of artists yet, with dozens of artists from across New England -- from Rhode Island to Maine Western Mass. The auction continues to offer interesting new furniture variations, too; collage mirrors, towel holders, side tables, and beach gear bucket stools join the usual array of chairs decorated with anything from glass mosaic and acrylic paints to puppet like cloth figures and even planter boxes with live flowers!

Items will be available for bidding through 9PM on September 5 at BiddingOwl.com/ArtsArlington!

Learn more and see videos from past years' Chairfuls on ArtsArlington.org