Culture
Passion Works Fundraiser is a Piece of Cake
By: Bryan Gibson
Posted on:
From Laurel and Hardy comedies to Animal House, we've all seen cake and pie fights on the big screen.
This Saturday, Athens residents will have the opportunity to see local celebrities get their "just desserts" during the first annual Passion Works Cake Fight and Auction at the Market on State.
"Local dignitaries and business leaders, including some city council members and even our mayor and his opponent, will square off in a cake fight using expired cakes and pies provided by Kroger," said Passion Works Studio Coordinator Wayne Savage. "Anyone who makes a donation to Passion Works can throw a cake or pie at those who volunteer to be publicly humiliated."
While cake auctions are common in Southeast Ohio, the Passion Works Studio staff decided to put their own spin on it.
"We're an art studio and this is a way of inspiring community art through creative cakes," said Savage. "We added a fun twist to it. A cake fight!"
Local businesses and organizations were invited to bake creative cakes and donate them to Passion Works for auction. They were also encouraged to add incentives that would be auctioned off with the cakes, such as coupons or free services.
Savage thinks this is a great way to involve the community and area businesses, while raising much-needed funds for the studio.
"In this day and age of government cuts, it's imperative that Passion Works Studio become self sufficient as soon as possible," he said. "These funds will be used to help pay for all aspects of programming which would include art supplies, rent and utilities."
Passion Works Studio supports collaborations between artists with and without developmental disabilities. Since 1998, the studio has created one-of-a-kind art pieces and translated artwork into items such as jewelry, ornaments, flowers and greeting cards.
Production of these art pieces create employment for people with and without developmental disabilities and generates a renewable funding stream to continue arts programming.
Saturday's event gets underway at 10 a.m. during the Athens Farmers Market. In addition to a silent auction, the ATCO Vocal Choir will perform. Cake bids will be updated throughout the morning on Facebook and Twitter, with the sugary skirmish taking place at 2 p.m.
For more information, visit www.passionworks.org.