Only a few days left to get tickets to Out of the Box 2011!

We have some really tremendous art in the auction this year! Big thanks to Jessie Johnson who headed up the art procurement. She and all procurement volunteers really outdid themselves this year.

These are just a few pieces:

Cosca I is a signed and numbered limited edition serigraph (certification included) by Victor Varsarely, leader of the Op-Art movement. It will be in “Negra’s Favorite Things” section of the silent auction. You can download a full list of silent auction items and preview live auction items on our auction preview page.

We have a few quilts in the auction this year – each one unique. One, made by Jodi Davila, is in the online auction. See her blue and yellow quilt and browse all online auction items (still more to add).

Here’s a gorgeous quilt that will be in the the “Annie & Missy: Girls Just Want to Have Fun” section of the silent auction in Seattle. The quilt was lovingly handmade by blog reader Annie Nordmark and is called Squares ²:

Tamela has made some  gorgeous necklaces this year. Two of them, Mr. B and In the Wild are in the online auction and two are in the Seattle auction.

Below is Tamela’s Miss Missy, which is also in the “Annie & Missy: Girls Just Want to Have Fun” section of the silent auction in Seattle:

We have some amazingly talented supporters and volunteers! Here is a photo of a mirror with a beautiful hand-painted frame made by Volunteer Stephanie Perciful. You’ll find it in the “Burrito’s Corner” section of the silent auction (Burrito LOVES Stephanie):

Volunteer Seana Blake has created one-of-a-kind three-dimensional collages using enrichment well-loved by the chimpanzees (and one piece she created from discarded fence construction bits and other pieces of found metal objects).

There are five pieces by Seana total. I can’t decide what my favorite is, but it might be the one below called “Trolls are Delicious.” This will be up for bid, where else but the “Trollin’ with Foxe” section of the silent auction:

Margaret Parkinson has donated several prints of her artwork this year, including one print of her now famous Negra in the Sun (the original painting sold at the 2009 auction). You’ll find this in the “Trollin’ with Foxie” section of the silent auction too. And you can find a couple of other prints by Margaret in the online auction.

And speaking of this image, just added to the CSNW store is the greatest sweatshirt ever made. It’s a unisex hoodie made by Alternative Earth and is super-soft, mega-comfortable and has an image taken from the same photograph that inspired Margaret’s painting above. It’s not as gorgeously colorful as Margaret’s, but it’s pretty cool. The company that makes the blank sweatshirts, Alternative Apparel, retails them for $50, so getting the sweatshirt with Negra’s image for the same price is a bargain! Buy one now - you don’t want to go through the fall months without one of these hoodies – trust me. Here’s a photo of Sarah wearing a size medium: