What would the world be without ART?

Thanks to all who helped in the 2010 Art for Ransom

     Art for Ransom is an annual event to help fund Arts Street, a 10-year old non-profit whose vision is to create a community for youth through arts and creative job-training to build personal success and leadership.The event included a silent and live auction, from $20 to millions, of a new collection of Un-digital Art Rebellion and other artworks contributed by local artists and youth.

This year's Art for Ransom was produced with the support of CVA of the Metropolitan State College of Denver, celebrating June 3 - July 3 as Creative Community Month at its new location, with an exhibit of artworks MIX - CVA+Santa Fe from galleries of the Art District on Santa Fe.

        The idea developed at the 2008 student design competition of the Art Directors Club of Denver. About 100 student graphic designers teamed with professional art directors brainstormed ways to design a marketing campaign for Arts-Street that costs next to nothing. The winning team came up with the idea of Art for Ransom. ‘Where would we be without art?’ the team asked. ‘If art was suddenly kidnapped, would we get a sense of its value?’ and would donors – big and small – pay to get it back?


Photos above by Tiana, age 16, of the Exhibit Prep Team.


ART FOR RANSOM 2009

   The first year launch of Art for Ransom marked the fun by wrapping several pieces of public art in Denver, with the permission of the city and the artists: The Yearling by Donald Lipski on the tall red chair at the Denver Public Library, Untitled at Civic Center Park by Robert Mangold, and East to West Source Point in front of the Wellington Webb Building by Larry Kirkland. People were upset that the pieces were covered and some even bothered to send us hate mail. We were happy that the missing art was missed. A short video of the 2009 Art for Ransom art wrapping process is posted at Art for Ransom at YouTube.

Art for Ransom was culminated on Sept. 12 at RedLine.The event included more than 130 pieces of art that the makers allowed to be covered and held for ransom. More than 200 people attended this event and help pay the ransom. 

watch a CBS 4 news story from Art for Ransom 2009

Watch a videos from Art for Ransom 2009