After Forest Park Aquatics Center’s biggest fundraiser of the year was cancelled due to COVID-19, local artists are stepping up and donating their work to the facility’s first ever online art auction fundraiser.
The Forest Park Aquatics Center is an Olympic-sized, community pool that provides training space to the Noblesville Swim Club in Indiana, a diving program, a masters swimming program, a water polo program, and offers swim lessons. In August, the pool successfully hosted the 2020 American Athletic Union (AAU) Diving Championships, while following strict coronavirus safety precautions.
FPAC diving platforms – courtesy of Molli Cameron
In order to rethink their biggest fundraiser of the year, the Noblesville community worked together to think outside of the box. Coronavirus made the live band, silent auction, and tasty brews of their annual BrewFest fundraiser unsafe, but locals were quick to contribute their effort to new fundraising ideas.
“Noblesville has an active art community and many fine artists and photographers,” said Molli Cameron, one of the fundraiser’s organizers, about her inspiration for the auction. “Many of the art fairs have been cancelled so the artists are starting to look for online opportunities.”
Lesley Bain Haflich and Simona Buna, two professional artists whose children swam for Noblesville Swim Club, have donated their artwork to the auction. Jordan Cooley, a current high school swimmer on the Noblesville Swim Club, designed the FPAC art auction logo and she is also among the thirty confirmed artists contributing their work to the fundraiser.
Currently, a local non-profit organization is in charge of maintaining the Forest Park Aquatics Center and keeping it functional amidst the pandemic. The goal of this fundraiser is to raise money for the facility’s upkeep and ensure future generations can benefit from the pool and the programs it runs.
The FPAC online art auction will be held from October 14th to October 25th and it will feature the works of painters, photographers, and other artists. Professional and non-professional artists are welcome to donate artwork by contacting Molli Cameron through the fundraiser’s social media pages. The registration for bidders, on CharityAuctionsToday, will also be announced on the fundraiser’s social media.
Great coverage on a cool event!