Children's Auction debuts one-of-a-kind artwork for bid

BELMONT — A highly exclusive and widely anticipated art installation was revealed Monday on the eve of bidding for the Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction, coupled with an invitation for community members to continue donating items to ensure the event has enough goods to make it through to the weekend.

The Children’s Auction relies on donations to run the affair each year, using the proceeds to fulfill grant requests from charitable organizations throughout the region and, ultimately, support the health and well-being of Lakes Region children. The night before bidding began, organizers were short over 1,000 items.

But the board and volunteers hope the unveiling of a premier work of art would help drum-up interest and support for the auction. In a quiet department store in Belknap Marketplace in Belmont, Jennifer Kelley, the organization's executive director, and volunteer and former board member Bob Glassett worked with board secretary Jaron Jenkins to film what they hoped would become a viral advertisement for the art installation.

“We have a beautiful piece of art this year that we’re ready to reveal,” Kelley said at the opening of the video advertisement. 

The pair, standing in front of an easel shrouded by textile covering, unveiled the “surprise item”: a red and white candy cane fixed with green duct tape to a canvas titled “Laughing Elf”. The piece of art harkens back to a bizarre moment when an artist used duct tape to fix a banana to a white wall — that piece, Maurizio Cattelan's "Comedian," eventually sold for $6.24 million at the Sotheby’s auction in New York in November.

“An elf here made it,” Glassett said Monday evening. “One of the volunteer elves.”

"This contemporary piece titled Laughing Elf was created by one of our own Auction Elves. The green duct tape contrasts with the glossy, festive surface of the candy cane, emphasizing the playful and temporary nature of the installation. The curved end of the candy cane adds a whimsical twist, hanging slightly downward, as if teasing gravity. This holiday-inspired reinterpretation retains the minimalist humor of the original while infusing it with seasonal cheer. It has been described as Ironic Christmas and Delicious by critics. Just don’t try to pull it off the wall — it’s art, not a snack," the product description on the bidding website reads.

When the bidding began in earnest Tuesday morning, the satirical work of art had already garnered a $500 bid and continued to climb to $600 as of press time. Other items — season tickets to Gunstock Mountain Resort and to Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion and a ballet in Boston — had cumulatively garnered thousands of dollars by midmorning.

“We have so many wonderful items, but we’re in need of a lot more,” Kelley said Monday evening. 

Inside this year’s headquarters at Belknap Marketplace, volunteers were hard at work in an area separated from the public viewing venue by large, festive curtains. Lisa Cornish, a longtime volunteer at the Children’s Auction and current intake department head, diligently logged items donated to the auction.

“As items come in, they track them and put them on the computers,” Kelley explained. Items are photographed, organized on tables in a large room and eventually put out onstage for the public to see. 

“As of right now, about 1,300 more items [are needed] to make it through the auction,” Cornish said Monday evening. About 2,600 items are required on set this year. “We’re halfway to our minimum goal.”

Volunteers work ahead of the auction, setting up collection sites and receiving drop-off donations, to ensure they’ve got enough to make the event happen. Many donations come in during the auction, typically toward the end, but it helps volunteers tremendously if items are received earlier.

“A lot of people bring them during the auction. Some people like to drop off towards the end and that’s hard, because we’ve made the boards already,” Cornish said, emphasizing the importance of the Children’s Auction in helping those in need throughout the Lakes Region. “As most people know, the cost of living has gotten ridiculously high. It’s really tough out there. There’s a lot of kids in need out there, it makes a huge impact.”

For Cornish, supporting the auction is a personal affair. In the past, as a single mother, she and her family were recipients of aid supported by the auction. She eventually made it to a more stable place in her life and has since returned the favor. She said there are many examples of former aid recipients turning around and supporting the auction down the line, a testament to the impact it’s had on the community over the four decades of its operation.

“It means a lot to our family,” she said. “That is like the heart of this auction.”

Cornish worked through a stack of gift cards donated by local businesses that would be up for bid the next day. Items donated need to be new, and they need more, she said.

“As we always say, and it’s very true, we need more items. We need about 1,500 more items to make it through Friday. As always, we’ll be hollering until Thursday and then everybody will come through. Please try to come through earlier if you can, we’ll be there all week. Stop by and say ‘hi’, we’re at the Belknap Marketplace in the old CVS location,” Ward 6 Councilor Tony Felch said Monday night at the city council meeting.

“I would love to see more items for kids right now,” board Chair Douglas Morrissette said Monday. “Come on down to the auction.” 

Individual items donated make a big impact. Over 43 years, the Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction has funded charitable organizations to the tune of $8.6 million. 

“The important thing is it all stays local, it all stays in the greater Lakes Region,” Kelley said. 

As the organization has grown, so have the number of requests for funding assistance from Granite State charities which focus on supporting children and families. 

“This year we have requests to serve over 32,000 kids,” Kelley said — the Children’s Auction supports around 65 different nonprofit organizations. “That’s why I’m so passionate about what we do. This is an incredibly giving community, I’ve never seen anything like it.”