The Beverly Arts Center in Chicago will celebrate its past and welcome the future later this month at the 44th annual auction, deemed BAC to the Future.
“One of our key goals of the auction this year is to raise money to upgrade the facilities. … and upgrade the technology,” said Sal Campbell, president of the BAC Auxiliary Board. “That’s one of the reasons this auction is so important. It covers things that aren’t necessarily covered from grants and that sort of thing.”
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The event is set to begin at 6 p.m. Feb. 21 with cocktails and appetizers at the center, 2407 W. 111th St. The event includes live music by Johnny V and the Killer Bzzz, a silent auction and a live auction.
Campbell said silent auction items include spa packages, theatre tickets, party packages, tickets to sports events and gift certificates to restaurants and entertainment venues in the Chicago area.
The live auction at 8 p.m. is the highlight of the evening, she said. It is to feature a Museum of Contemporary Photography “behind-the-scene” tour with a dinner package for six guests and an “Ultimate Block Party” featuring live music, food, kids games and a keg of beer.
Other auction items include a private dinner for eight prepared by local chef Pat Murphy in the top bidder’s home, a Derby Day party at Arlington International Racecourse, a girls night out spa, shopping and dinner packages and a food and beer pairing and tour at microbrew pub Horse Thief Hollow.
Campbell said local artists have been invited to design centerpieces with Beverly Arts Center memorabilia and photos as part of the live auction.
A time line of memorabilia and photos will be on display. Anyone who has photos or memorabilia to share at the event is encouraged to call the center, she said.
The center is “inviting people to dress up” to represent their favorite decade from the 1960s to now, as the center opened in 1968, Campbell said.
“I was kind of inspired by the Surrealist Fashion Show,” she said. “It was really wonderful. The things that people wore were so much fun and it just energized the whole party. So we thought since we have this fun theme this year, it would be fun to invite people to do that again.”
Campbell said the future of the Beverly Arts Center is brighter since the success of the BAC Challenge, a campaign that raised $500,000 in donations to relieve mortgage debt, which was matched on a 4-to-1 basis by Fifth Third Bank.
“The community rallied together to raise this money and save the arts center,” Campbell said. “So it was really quite inspiring”
To donate items for the auctions or memorabilia or for more information, call (773) 445-3838 or visit http://www.beverlyartcenter.org.