THE BIRDHOUSE AUCTION began as the brainchild of Tutti Perricone's out-of-the box vision to help the center. As a past Board member she knew about the 31 birdhouses left over from a previous fundraiser several years ago. After a considerable amount of dusting, this launched the Birdhouse Auction and Cocktail Party Committee. They, in turn enlisted the support of 30 local artists, the Hill school, their faculty and staff, who volunteered to work behind the scenes, along with all the Middleburg businesses that displayed the birdhouses in their shop windows. A true community effort!

The artists who donated their time and talent have diverse backgrounds, beginners, professionals, art students, art teachers, fine artists, and commercial artists, even a theatrical production designer.

All of the bidders were most generous in their support of the community center and a little birdie told us the largest bid was $2,200, a wonderful donation.

If you missed the Birdhouse Auction on April 2, you missed a great event, and the opportunity to meet some very interesting artists.

The contributing artists included:

Patricia Callahan, a well-known sign painter and resident of Middleburg since 1979

Joan Gardiner is an accomplished ceramist and tile designer making tiles for private and public installations since 1982. You can see her work in the New Ashburn Library

Jane Gaston has a broad range of artistic works, murals to dinnerware, jewelry design, is also known for her wildlife posters designed for the National Zoo in Washington, DC, and Zoo Atlanta

Aeron Mack Hynes, founder of the Middleburg Art League, works in watercolor and oils depicting lovely landscapes of our Virginia countryside

Anne Lackman, a graduate of Pratt Institute of Art, N.Y.C and former Mayor of Middleburg

Charlie Matheson, an architect and landscape painter who works in both watercolor and oils

Tom Neil, a painter and photographer recently featured in Home & Design and Elan magazines

Lilla Ohrstrom, a sculptor who has a clay studio in The Plains where she also teaches children the art of sculpture, pottery, and drawing

Tully Rector, who learned to paint before he learned to read, with a brief interruption as a film director for 36 years, he's back at his first love, painting.

Emily Sharp, creator of Middleburg's wonderful Christmas decorations and retired art teacher from The Hill School, who never retired fortunately from her art!

Dana Volkert, a painter, who loves to paint close-ups of flowers, bugs, reptiles, and underwater organisms, see her collection at her studio

Catherine Stettinius Zimmerman who is largely known for her watercolors, studied at the Corcoran School of Art, and has sold her paintings throughout the East coast.