Advocacy group using art sales to close funding gap

A child advocacy group in Cape Girardeau plans to auction framed artwork Feb. 13 in an effort to raise thousands of dollars to fill the budget gap created by the loss of most of its state funding.

The artwork will include everything from lithographs and etchings to watercolors and original oils -- most priced between $50 and $300, said organizers of the "Home Is Where the Art Is" auction.

The group, CASA or Court Appointed Special Advocates, has a three-member staff and 35 volunteers who represent abused or neglected children.

The volunteers are assigned cases by judges in the 32nd Judicial Circuit of Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Perry counties.

CASA served over 180 children last year, said Pam Jenkins, the group's director.

"Two years ago we lost all of our state funding, about $15,000 a year," Jenkins said.

The group will receive about $5,000 this year toward its $45,000 annual budget. The rest comes from fund-raising efforts and a donation of about $17,000 from the Area Wide United Way.

Jenkins said the budget covers the salaries of the three staff members as well as the cost of operating the office at 1111 Linden.

CASA raises about $13,000 annually from a late-summer barbecue. But the group needs to raise over $20,000 a year to keep operating at its current level, CASA officials said.

CASA board member Tiffany Parker, who heads up the auction, said about 200 to 300 framed pieces of artwork will be auctioned at Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center, 1080 S. Silver Springs Road.

Admission is $10 in advance and $12 at the door. The event will begin with a preview at 6:30 p.m. and an auction at 7:30 p.m. Refreshments and appetizers will be served.

State of the Art -- a company from Cleveland, Tenn., which specializes in art auctions as fund raisers -- will supply the artwork and the auctioneer.

The auctions have been known to feature works by Picasso, Norman Rockwell and Salvador Dali, among others.

CASA is guaranteed at least $1,000 before a single sale if at least 100 people attend, Parker said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123