“I hope that when people see me work and how quickly I can create, it will encourage them to give more,” said Terrell Carter, referring to Wall Ball 2005, an arts benefit taking place this Saturday night at 7 p.m. in the City Museum downtown.
Wall Ball is a unique auction in which the items up for bid are created right in front of the guests. More than thirty artists will be given canvasses to paint and sell to benefit the South City Open Studio and Gallery for Children (SCOSAG) and its Forest Park Southeast Expansion Project.
Carter has the bragging rights of being the creator of the highest-bid item from last year’s Wall Ball. His Harlem Renaissance-inspired work sold for what could be a month’s rent in the most trendy spots in the St. Louis. He also literally goes against the grain by painting on plywood rather than canvass.
Carter is delighted to return to Wall Ball and to be working with his fellow Webster alum and artist Jenna Bauer, the founding director of SCOSAG and brain behind Wall Ball.
“I think Jenna is amazing,” Carter said. “She is dedicated to bringing art to everyone, and I definitely appreciate what she is doing.”
While many other twenty-somethings are still trying to figure out what they want do with their lives, Bauer is directing her own studio to help children discover their own passions. “My ultimate goal is to let people learn how to make life more pleasurable,” Bauer said.
SCOSAG is an arts studio that offers camps, classes and study time with artists for children (adult classes will start in the very near future). It is presently housed in a small cottage in Tower Grove Park but will be moving to the Potter’s Workshop at Tower Grove and Arsenal. Proceeds from Wall Ball will be used to cover operating expenses at the new site.
At the first Wall Ball held last year, more than $15,000 was raised for SCOSAG. Bauer is confident that her 2005 goal of $20,000 will be met. “I am certain that this year’s event will be a sell-out,” Bauer said.
Bauer is excited about the center that she plans to lease to buy from the Lighthouse Community Outreach Center.
“I predict that this building will be the arts center for this neighborhood,” she said. “And the center can be a catalyst for several arts organizations to come together for the greater good of St. Louis.” She is talking with other organizations, including the St. Louis Arts Museum, to collaborate with her in the new space.
Bauer is even more ecstatic about her plans for the space upstairs of the Potter’s Workshop. She plans to renovate an upper-level apartment into a multimedia studio with a space to offer private music lessons. She has a vision of recording CDs in the studio and selling them to benefit SCOSAG’s new headquarters and the activities that the organization plans to provide.
Forest Park Southeast is a primarily African-American community, and Bauer wants to enlist the hip-hop community to support her efforts. She hopes that a connection with hip-hop will attract the interest of children who normally turn a blind eye to the arts.
African-American visual artists have already begun to pitch in and lend a hand, or brush, to Bauer’s dreams through Wall Ball. For Wall Ball 2005, Terrell Carter, Chris Burch, Solomon Thurman and Thomas Sleet have all signed up to give through creating art.
For more information about SCOSAG or to purchase tickets for Wall Ball 2005, visit www.scosag.org or call 865-0060.
