By Emma Friedlander
friendlan@grinnell.edu
The Grinnell Area Arts Council will hold its first ever yard sale fundraiser, featuring piles of clothing, art supplies and nine large boxes full of vintage Barbie dolls, this Saturday, Aug. 6 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. The yard sale will occur on the front lawn of the Arts Council building at 926 Broad St., or inside in the case of rain. The Council decided to have the fundraiser when staff members came across an eclectic inventory of random objects during their end of summer cleaning and determined that the event would perfectly fit the mid-August lull in Arts Council events.
“Usually we do specifically arts events. This is probably one of the least art-related events that we’ve done, but it still functions to get the community engaged,” said Katie In, operations and communications director for the Arts Council. “We hope to get people on the grounds to see what we do here and just know that we’re here.”
Founded in 1971, the Grinnell Area Arts Council is an umbrella organization that aims to support creative expression in the community. The Council’s programs include the Stewart Gallery, the Turlach Ur bagpipe band and the Grinnell Community Theater, as well as education classes on ceramics, drawing, theater and more for children and adults alike. While this Saturday’s yard sale is largely intended to raise money to support this programming, the staff mostly hopes that it serves as a wide-reaching event bringing together different parts of the Grinnell community.
“The engagement thing is really important for us,” said Erik Jarvis, Arts Council events and building director. “Even when we do free live music outside and stuff like that, that doesn’t have the same general draw as something like a yard sale. Everyone can get on board with that.”
The staff was most excited by the large number of community members that went through their homes and donated items to the yard sale, demonstrating a promising amount of interest in supporting the Arts Council.
“We’re a nonprofit and we can always use more funds to go toward operating expenses. But the more rewarding part of it is seeing how many people have helped the Arts Council and brought stuff in. It’s been a really good turnout for donating items,” In said.
Although the yard sale is not arts specific, many of the items for sale do have an artistic bend. In and Jarvis pointed out a large number of frames and pieces of artwork that had been donated by community members, as well as more eccentric objects sure to liven up any room, including numerous boxes of vintage Barbie dolls.
By bringing community members to the front lawn of the Grinnell Area Arts Council, In and Jarvis hope that the yard sale will also introduce and draw people to the arts on display in their space.
“There’s also a gallery reception that night, so hopefully this will feed into that and people will come into Stewart Gallery during the sale,” Jarvis said.
Although the Grinnell Area Arts Council is located away from campus on Broad Street, the staff are committed to increasing the College students’ engagement. This includes hosting programs that appeal to students’ interests and getting students engaged firsthand in the classes offered by the Arts Council.
“We’re both alums and can use that sometimes to help that cause,” In said of her and Jarvis. “I know that Grinnell College students are really busy, I know firsthand how that is. But we’re interested in having events that have a little bit of a pull [for students], so that there’s engagement with the community and more opportunities to see what the town of Grinnell is like.”
