Middle Way to auction $30,000 worth of items

Oil and watercolor paintings by Bloomington artists, lithographs signed by famous artists such as Marc Chagall, Joan Miro and Georges Braque, as well as an evening dress worn by Jane Fonda in the movie "Monster in Law" will all be auctioned off at 5 p.m. Saturday.\nMiddle Way House, a domestic violence and rape crisis center, will hold its annual art auction Saturday at the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, according to Jimmie Dean Coffey Auctions and Realty's Web site.\nThe money for the annual Middle Way art auction will be used to maintain the center, which helps battered women and children.\nSigned lithographs by Chagall, Miro, and Braque; African- and Asian-folk art and numerous oil and watercolor paintings from local Bloomington artists will all be auctioned. Other interesting items for sale are Fonda's evening dress and a drawing from Joe Petts, a political cartoonist who used to work for the Herald-Times newspaper.\nIn addition, participants will have the opportunity to sample live music, a wine bar and hors d'oeuvres by FoodWorks.\nBobbie Summers, the event's coordinator, said this is the second year the art auction will be hosted on its own. \n"In the past, we collaborated with the IU School of Music to host a fundraising event, Night at the Opera," she said, "However, last year it was so successful it stood on its own and we decided to do it again."\nSummers said many people spent time and energy making the project possible.\n"Mollie Lemon, an IU intern; Stephanie Burks, a volunteer, and members of the board of directors and many Bloomington residents spent nine months developing and planning the event," she said.\nSummers pointed out that WFIU, a local National Public Radio affiliate, gave the art auction visibility and exposure in the Bloomington community.\nToby Strout, executive director of Middle Way House, said the items on sale are rare, with some being expensive and others being more affordable. \n"We have $30,000 worth of items," Strout said. "In past times, we have had a lot of support from the IU campus and the local Bloomington community," she said.\nMiddle Way House serves Bloomington by providing a telephone hotline for abused women and girls, legal support, emergency child care, emergency crisis intervention, counseling and a shelter.\n"We want to raise funds to support these basic and emergencies services," Strout said.\nMiddle Way House is also raising funds for a building called New Wings. The building will offer office space, daycare programs and transitional living in the old Coca-Cola bottling plant on Third Street. The House bought the property with sponsorship from the Business Investment Incentive, Housing and Neighborhood Development, Landmark Historic Preservation and the Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association, according the Middle Way House Web site.\nFor more information on the annual Middle Way House auction, call 333-7404 or visit http://www.bloomington.in.us/~mwhouse.