Local Artists Donate Rothko-Inspired Artwork for Auction to Benefit Open Book Theatre Company

Local artists Tony Miello and Jeremy Hansen each created a painting inspired by the work of Mark Rothko and donated it to Open Book Theatre Company for auction.

Open Book's current production of the Tony award winning play Red by John Logan centers around abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko. Hansen is the gallery manager for River's Edge Gallery in Wyandotte, MI, and he and owner Patt Slack were very excited to help support the work of Open Book and offered to donate the paintings as a fundraiser for the new professional theatre company.

The pieces are on display at the performance venue and audience members can bid on the items when they come to see a show. Bidders include their e-mail and will receive updates as bids are made on each painting. Bidding will also be updated on the theatre's website. Current bidders can return to the closing night performance and, if they place a bid, see the show again for free. Alternately, they could e-mail their highest bid to Artistic Director Krista Schafer Ewbank who will place the bid in their stead. The action will close 5 minutes after the final curtain on December 13th.

About the artists:

Tony Miello is a pop artist who has created work for DC and Marvel comics and for Lucas films. He is an organizer of Detroit FanFair Comic Con. Tony is originally from Brooklyn and now lives in Michigan. He frequently shows work at River's Edge and teaches classes at the Downriver Council for the Arts

Jeremy Hansen was born in Vancouver and performed professionally with Disney on Ice. He is an interior designer and manages the River's Edge Gallery. His work is shown and collected internationally, including a recent show in Berlin, Germany. Jeremy has long admired Rothko's work and often paints Rothko inspired paintings as studies to work on color fields and brush strokes.