Art In The Park Drawing To A Close: Online Auction Ends Aug. 16

CHATHAM – If any of the creatively decorated sharks or whales swimming around in Kate Gould Park have caught your eye, you’ve got just about a week to put in a bid to take it home.

The Art in the Park online auction is set to close Aug. 16 at noon. As of early this week, there were bids on all 76 sharks, whales and signs up for auctions.

The leading bids were for whales sponsored by the Chatham Village Market and the Chatham Candle Company, each at $2,250. Two others were above $2,000, and many had bids over $1,000.

Last year’s Art in the Park auction raised a total of $137,171, topping the previous year’s record of $113,000. One of the whales went for $10,050, the highest price paid for an Art in the Park piece in the dozen-plus years it has been around.

Money raised through the auction is split between the artists who created each piece and the chamber and merchants association to support events like Oktoberfest and Christmas by the Sea.

This year’s exhibit has been very popular, said organizer Janice Rogers. “At any given time there seems to be as many people as whales/sharks in the park,” she wrote in an email.

In the past there has been some vandalism to the Art in the Park exhibit — early on several sharks were even stolen — but beefed up security, including 24 hour video monitoring, has reduced incidents. This year has seen just one instance of vandalism. Two weeks ago, one whale was slightly damaged when four young women attempted to “karate chop” it, knocking it down. A gouge was repaired and poles and sponsor and artist name signs were replaced, according to Rogers.

The Oars in the Stores scavenger hunt continues through Labor Day. Pick up a booklet at the downtown information booth and track down the painted wooden oars displayed in shops and businesses throughout town. Completed booklets handed in by Labor Day will earn a prize and be entered into a drawing for three grand prizes. The oars will also be auctioned online, with half the proceeds going to the artists and half to Monomoy Community Services, beginning Aug. 17. The auction ends Sept. 6 at 8 p.m.

Visit chathammerchants.com/events for more information about the oars auction.