Kimball Art Center Announces 20 Artists and 20 Corporations Selected for Charity Lift

Kimball Art Center Announces 20 Artists and 20 Corporations Selected for Charity Lift

Local event gets global reach through EBay auction, with ABC’s Scott Wolf to Emcee Chairity Lift Event at Canyons on Dec. 17^th.

Park City, UT - Kimball Art Center and Canyons announced today the artists, corporations and charities participating in Chairity Lift. The Charity Lift project united 20 artists and 20 corporations (benefiting 20 charities) to design 40 chairlifts for this unique event.  These chairs came from the dismantled 42 year old, historic Golden Eagle lift from Canyons. The artists and corporations created one of a kind, innovative works of art to be auctioned off on both eBay and live at the Chairity Lift event on December 17, 2010. The bulk of the proceeds from all chairlift purchases will go to Kimball Art Center to continue providing free exhibitions and education programs year-round with 25% of all proceeds back to artists and charities.

As a presenting sponsor, eBay announced it launched a 10 day online auction of these works of art. A select group of chairs were designated specifically for eBay and launched on December 6, 2010 at 8pm MST. The auction will be listed on eBay Giving Works website, the official eBay giving site and the corporate blog and will run through Wednesday, December 15, 2010 at 8pm MST. The Charity Lift auction can be found at http://ebay.com/kimballartcenter

Since 2003, eBay has raised over $200 million in the US and UK for more than 22,000 nonprofits with over 250,000 sellers participating since eBay Giving Works began. eBay Giving Works offers eBay's 89 million members a convenient and secured way to support their favorite nonprofits through the power of eBay.

"Canyons is very proud to see our old Golden Eagle lifts as works of art.  We are thrilled to have teamed up with Kimball Art Center to raise funds through the auction for a variety of non-profit organizations.  With all of Canyons vast improvements for the 2010/2011 season, this charity event with the Golden Eagle chairs is a unique way to keep alive the history of the resort," says Mike Goar, Managing Director, Canyons Resort.

"Chairity Lift is an exciting collaboration at the intersection of creativity and corporate philanthropy. Participants were given free reign to express their unique point of view to transform a chair lift into a one of a kind  work of art. We're thrilled with the results and with the help eBay, these masterpieces will reach a global audience," Robin Marrouche, Executive Director, Kimball Art Center.

To begin the project, Kimball Art Center reached out to the community and began working with local artists and companies, some established, others emerging, but all with a connection in Utah. The challenge was to design the chairs, using the canvas to create a masterpiece to be auctioned off.

Hosted by Scott Wolf, star of ABC's new hit show,V, the Chairity Lift event is on Friday, December, 17^th in the Grand Summit Ballroom at Canyons from 6:30pm - 10pm. An evening of entertainment with music from Bryon Friedman and a live auction of Golden Eagle lift chairs while Wolf emcees the event. Tickets are available for $50, until the week of December 13^th-17^th when ticket prices increase to $75.

Scott Wolf is perhaps best known as "Bailey Salinger," a character he portrayed from 1994-2000 on the award-winning drama Party of Five. Wolf has been a mainstay on television for more than a decade, including a starring role in the critically acclaimed WB drama Everwood, opposite Treat Williams and ABC's The Nine, opposite Tim Daly. On screen Wolf's diverse credits include Emmett's Mark, opposite Gabriel Byrne, Go, directed by Doug Liman, The Evening Star, opposite Juliette Lewis and Shirley MacLaine, and White Squall, with Jeff Bridges and Ryan Phillippe. In addition to his extensive work on screen and TV, Wolf's prestigious stage work includes the Tony Award-winning Side Man, Lincoln Center's production of Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, and three seasons at the prestigious Williamstown Theater Festival. Wolf currently resides in Park City, Utah, with his wife, Kelley and their son, Jackson.

The artists including titles of their artwork for Chairity Lift are:
Mike Bronn - "Last Chair"
Ron Butkovitch -"That's How We Roll"
Dennis Dale - "Flintstone Chairlift"
Megan Fernandez -"Golden Eagle Chair Pose (Utkatasana)"
Scott Gutierrez - "Frozen in Time"
Lisa Hale -"Winged Feather Swing"
Corinne Humphrey -"Autumn Leaves at the Canyons"
Karyn Jacobsen -"Lynx"
Sharon Jonas -"The Ride-on Chair"
Matt Kraft - "Ski Rod"
Ian Leinbach -"SkiCycle"
Jason Martinez -"Rossignol Chair"
Renee Mox Hall -"The Chairiot of Fire"
Park City Highschool Art Club- "Seasons and History of Park City"
R. Nelson Parrish - "No. 37 Apres Ski 2010"
Bob Peek - "Who is Rik Shaw Anyway?"
Mike Quinlan - "Mosaic Tiffany Glass Chair"
Dayna Stern -"Chairman Mao"
Whitney Thompson - "No. 47:  Rothko^chaired"
Mike Walton - "Fly Fishing Scenes"

The companies, the charities and their websites for Chairity Lift are:

A Wok Away "Minimalist" benefiting The Park City Film Series, www.parkcityfilmseries.org
Backcountry.com "The Back Seat" benefiting National Ability Center,www.discovernac.org
Budweiser "Budweiser Ultimate Party Chair" benefiting Winter Sports School,www.wintersportsschool.org
Canyons "No. 36 Shoulder Season: Park City 2010" benefiting Park City Education Foundation, www.pcef4kids.org
Coca-Cola "Coca-Cola Porch Swing" benefiting United Way Salt Lake City,www.uw.org
eBay "eBay Toy Chest" benefiting Primary Children's Medical Center, www.intermountainhealthcare.org/hospitals/primarychildrens
Fischer Productions "How To Catch A Snow Shark" benefiting Ocearch,www.ocearch.org
Fresh Market "It Takes A Village" benefiting KPCW ,www.kpcw.org
Gigaplex Architects "Twinkling Pine Chair" benefiting Design Build Bluff,www.designbuildbluff.org
Sharon Jonas "The Ride-On Chair" benefiting Recycle Utah, www.utahrecycles.org
Key Bank "Chouch" benefiting Kimball Art Center's Young Artist Academy (YAA), www.kimballartcenter.org/education/young-artists-academy
KSL 5 "Cabin's Dream of Entertainment" benefiting KSL's Quarters for Christmas, www.ksl.com/?nid=256&sid=2218390
Scenemakers "Cowboy Home Companion" benefiting Mothers Without Borders,www.motherswithoutborders.org
Overstock.com "Family Tree Peace Garden" benefiting Wounded Warrior Project,www.woundedwarriorproject.org
R. Nelson Parrish benefiting World Cup Dreams, www.worldcupdreams.org
Ski Utah "The Ski Utah Chair" benefiting CHILL,www.chill.org
Skullcandy "The Skullcandy Chair" benefiting Huntsman Cancer Institute,www.huntsmancancer.org
University of Colorado "Chair-y #1" benefiting Navajo Nation, www.navajo.org
University of Utah "Chair-y #2" benefiting University of Utah School of Architecture,www.arch.utah.edu
Waldorf Astoria "Timeless Elegance" benefiting Park City Performing Arts Foundation,www.ecclescenter.org
Waterbox "Eyrie Perch" benefiting Micaboo, www.mickaboo.org
Yuki Arashi "Purist" benefiting Park City Foundation,www.theparkcityfoundation.org

Chairity Lift is sponsored by Canyons, eBay, KSL TV and Waldorf Astoria Park City.

For more information about Chairity Lift, go to www.kimballartcenter.org.

Images available upon request.

The Kimball Art Center is the heart of Park City's historic and vibrant arts community. We are a non-profit center for the arts, committed to engaging individuals of all ages in diverse and inspiring experiences through education, exhibitions and events.

# # #