Flower the skunk’s paintings up for auction

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This article was published 28/08/2020 (2250 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Paintings by animals at the Assiniboine Park Zoo, including a skunk, heavy horse, polar bear and meerkats, are among the items up for bid at the first-ever online auction hosted by the Assiniboine Park Conservancy.

APC’s Garden Party auction also includes behind-the-scenes tours and other once in a lifetime experiences, according to Donna Wilford, who co-ordinates the volunteer committee organizing the event.

“Every year, we hold a garden party at the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden, which includes an auction of experiences for guests,” Wilford said. “With COVID, we had to pivot. This year, we’re pleased to say we’re bringing the garden party into everyone’s home and expanding the auction to the public.”

The online auction, which runs to Sept. 4, includes over 100 items with reserve bids starting at $50. Participants can bid on experiences including:

• A behind-the-scenes tour of Journey to Churchill where guests will attend a polar bear training session.

• The opportunity to prepare food and enrichment for red pandas with the zoo’s animal care professionals.

• An up-close encounter with harbour seals behind the scenes hosted by animal care professionals.

• A behind-the-scenes family photo shoot at the zoo with a professional photographer.

• A fully catered private dinner under the stars in the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden.

“How often do people get to have a private dinner for eight next to our wolf enclosure?” Wilford said. “Or a private tea party for four in the English Garden, where they’ll be able to talk with the horticultural staff while being served sandwiches and desserts?”

The auction includes one-of-a-kind artwork featuring the creative talents of some of the zoo’s most charismatic creatures. Animal artists include Star the polar bear, Ice the Percheron horse, Flower the skunk, and Chandler the galah, a pink and grey cockatoo.

“There’s also the opportunity to adopt an animal for a year or send kids to camp or a field trip for a classroom to the zoo,” Wilford said, adding that the experience prizes can be used until Dec. 31, 2021. “We’ve had interest from as far away as New Brunswick, from a person who wanted to know how long they would have to travel to Manitoba.”

The auction, as well as other aspects of the Garden Party, will fund maintenance of the gardens at the park.

“People have been coming to Assiniboine Park this year, and strolling the gardens as part of their respite during the pandemic,” Wilford said, adding she hopes the auction raises $25,000, out of the total $150,000 goal for the event, between sponsorships, and ticket purchases for gift baskets. Those baskets were delivered on Aug. 26 by park volunteers.

“Instead of holding the outdoor party, we offered gift baskets that included made-in-Manitoba items, including antipasto made by Assiniboine Park chefs,” Wilford said.

The auction can be found online at www.assiniboineparkauction.ca and closes on Sept. 4 at 8 p.m.