Art auction for funds to buy minibus for children’s home

Gordon and Michelle posing with the artwork ‘Hangin’ Around’ that is being auctioned off to raise funds for a children’s home.

ART collectors in Penang have a rare opportunity to obtain a piece by renowned Australian painter Graeme Stevenson while improving the lives of underprivileged children.

Titled “Hangin’ Around” and depicting a female orang utan and her young, the painting is being auctioned off to raise funds to buy a new minibus for Batu Grace Children’s Home in Kedah.

The 100cm x 75cm painting, valued at RM24,000, is currently displayed at Hillside Cafe and Restaurant.

The reserve price is RM7,500 and bids will be accepted until Nov 17.

British couple Gordon and Michelle Hart, who are the home’s chief caretakers, said the painting was among the items to be auctioned off in a dinner and dance fundraiser that was supposed to be held in May.

The nationwide movement control order scuppered it.

They considered holding the delayed event this month but with many still hesitant to attend a public gathering, it was ultimately called off.

But the auction is still proceeding on the home’s social media page and it has raised about RM14,000 so far.

Combined with donations and earlier ticket sales, the sum raised currently stands at around RM40,000.

“The home is badly in need of funds as sponsorship has dried up due to the Covid-19 pandemic and economic uncertainty.

“A new minibus is needed because the existing one is old and keeps breaking down.

“We don’t want to keep wasting precious funds repairing it,” said Gordon.

The home also needs money to buy daily essentials and medicine for the children.

Currently 57 youngsters aged three to 18 years live there, and for most of them, it is the only home they have ever known.

Australian artist Madeleine Ekeblad, who is facilitating the auction, said Malaysians had always been so welcoming to foreigners like her and this was their way of giving back to the local community.

Stevenson, who received the Order of Australia medal for “service to the visual arts” during Australia Day 2017, donated his painting to the cause.

Three of his paintings are in the collection of former US president Bill Clinton.

The artist also provided every image for The Atlas of Parrots published in 1991, one of the greatest reference books on the subject.

He is an art director and TV host best known for creating the award-winning Colour In Your Life show that chronicled artists from around the world, including Ekeblad.

Notably, the show is set to become the first art show represented on the moon as part of the Lunar Codex — a digitised time capsule of global art, literature and music that will be placed on the moon’s surface for perpetuity.

This will be delivered by Astrobotic Technologies’ Peregrine lunar lander via the United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket sometime in 2022.

To view the painting being auctioned off, visit the restaurant anytime during opening hours from 9am to 3pm and 5pm to 9pm daily (closed on Tuesdays).

Bids for the items can be made directly at www.facebook.com/ batugracechildrenshome