CATSKILL — The highest bids at Saturday’s Cat’n Around Catskill auction drew a whopping $3,000 with two art pieces tied for the top spot.
The feline dubbed “Police A-cat-emy” by Jesse Bidwell and “Wildflowers” by Patty Baker each sold for $3,000.
A total of 53 artistically designed fiberglass cats were on the auction block at The Historic Catskill Point on Saturday and raised about $64,000, auction organizer Christy Hicks said Monday.
“This event always bring people from all over the country and it’s very uplifting in these tough times to see all that beautiful art,” Hicks said.
Also topping the list of highest bids were “CataStogie” by Samantha Fey, which sold for $2,600, and tied for third were “Celtic Kitty” by Amelia Gallina and “Midnight Star Catcher” by Lillian Johnson, with each bringing in bids of $2,500, Hicks said.
It may be hard to believe now, but back in 2006 when the inaugural Cat’n Around Catskill was first held, people predicted it would be a flop.
The annual public art exhibit and auction has since become a beloved tradition in the community and each year raises thousands of dollars for local nonprofit organizations.
“The first year we did this, they said it wouldn’t work,” said Peter Markou, president of the Heart of Catskill Association, which organizes the project each year. “We made $97,000 that year.”
The 15th annual auction was held Saturday at The Historic Catskill Point.
Heart of Catskill recruits artists and provides them with a white fiberglass mold of a cat — there are two options, one seated and one standing — and then lets the artists’ imaginations take flight.
The flow of ideas hasn’t run dry since the project began 15 years ago.
“We have a lot of repeat artists from year to year and they always come up with new and different ideas,” Markou said. “It’s actually fun to watch.”
This year’s cat crop included felines painted and decorated as Minnie Mouse, a nurse, a skunk, a cowboy and Elvis Presley — or, to be more specific, Elvis Pussley.
There was a steampunk cat, a feline based on “My Fair Lady,” a patriotic cat and a skeleton cat.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There were 53 cats sold at auction this year and one was raffled off.
“I think we have seen some really outstanding work, which is interesting because we are in the place where American art was created — Frederic Church’s house is here, and Thomas Cole’s house is here,” Markou said. “These are one-of-a-kind art pieces.”
The artists receive 30% of the auction price. Each year, the auction raises around $60,000 for local charitable causes, Tina Annese, treasurer for the Heart of Catskill Association, said.
Annese has been organizing the cat auction since its inception 15 years ago.
The 2020 auction raised $65,000 in a pandemic year.
“HOCA brought them (the cats) out last year to bring some joy to the miseries of the pandemic,” said Ann Gibbons of the Heart of Catskill Association. “HOCA was the only group that held a live auction last September.”
The annual public art exhibit and auction brings a lot of people to Catskill, Annese said.
“This definitely brings tourism in because we have people who have been coming to see the cats for the last 15 years and they bring their children, their grandchildren,” she said. “It’s a destination for a lot of people.”
Other communities in the region, such as Hudson and Saugerties, have tried similar public art projects that did not catch on, she said. But working with cats — along with the name of the village — has been a big draw over the years, Annese said.
“These are cat people — it’s a whole different world,” she said. “And it’s ‘Catskill,’ so it just makes sense. There are cat people everywhere.”
The artists come from all over.
“When this started we were getting artists from the Greene County Council on the Arts. We went to Hudson, we went to Catskill, Hunter — we went to all of our communities and the artists couldn’t wait to do this,” Annese said. “Some of our artists, even if they move away, they still want us to send them a cat.”
One artist moved to North Carolina, and another relocated to Pennsylvania, but they both still design their cats each year. The Heart of Catskill Association has the molds shipped to them.
The full complement of completed cats are put up on streets throughout the community around Memorial Day and remain through mid-September before they are taken down for the auction.