Nature provided the ideal weather. The newly renovated School of Education building provided the setting. Cycropia Aerial Dance and Caravan Gypsy Swing added the entertainment. But it was the wine lovers and supporters of Tandem Press who created the excitement and actively bid on more than 80 items at the Tandem Press 2011 wine auction. Auction items were donated by Madison-area businesses and individuals. Tandem Press graduate students and programs benefit from the money raised. This is the 18th year for the popular event.
Auctioneer Sarah Mudge kept the bidding fast and competitive. She has been a member of the Phillips de Pury & Company Contemporary Art Department in New York since 2006. Mudge works with private collectors, advisors and institutions and is in charge of the Contemporary Art II Day sales in New York, overseeing May and November auctions.
Hosted by Tandem Press director Paula Panczenko, the auction featured a tempting variety of items, including a Chateau Angelus 1989 Grand Cru Classé Bordeaux, a Château Bel-Orme-Tronquoy-de-Lalande 1959 Haut-Médoc, along with tickets to a Green Bay Packer game, a gift certificate to American Players Theatre, a Jim Dine lithograph and a Judy Pfaff print.
Tandem Press was founded 24 years ago as a self-supporting printmaking studio affiliated with the Department of Art in the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. From the beginning, the goal of Tandem Press has been to bring internationally recognized artists to interact with students and faculty, and to parallel the overall university mission of education, research and public service.
This past year, Tandem Press was featured in the exhibition American Printmaking Now, which opened at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing and toured other Chinese museums.