Art Sale To Benefit Abingdon Organizations

A private art collection built over decades by an Abingdon couple will go on sale to the public in August with proceeds benefitting two local organizations.

The "Can't Take It With You" art sale of 47 pieces from the estate of Sam Hurt, Jr. and the living estate of Jan Hurt will be held at Wolf Hills Brewing Company in Abingdon beginning Aug. 1, with the best selection available at the Aug. 3 opening from 4:00pm to 9:00pm when a live band and food truck will be on hand. The sale moves to Rain restaurant in Abingdon on Sept. 1 with an additional 24 pieces.

Proceeds from the sale will go to Barter Theatre, and to a grant competition run by the Virginia Highlands Small Business Incubator to help establish a late-night entertainment venue in downtown Abingdon through the Washington County Business Challenge. The competition will begin Jan. 21, 2020 at Virginia Highlands Small Business Incubator.

Jan and Sam Hurt, lifelong lovers of art, began collecting in the early 1980's and acquired a wide variety of pieces through their travels in Europe and Asia. Sam passed away in Sept. 2018 and Jan, a noted collaborative mixed-media artist, wants to use their collection to benefit Abingdon. "I felt the need to lighten up by a few tons of art, but also wanted to do something to honor Sam's memory," Jan says. "He loved Abingdon and felt at home here like he never had anywhere else."

Visitors to the art sale will find affordable prices for regional, national and international works such as framed antique prints and maps, acrylics, oil paintings, modern woodblock prints, watercolors, wood burnings, vintage museum posters and photography. Regional artists Kyle Buckland, George Chavatel, Shawn Crookshank, Pat Jessee, Ned Johnson, John Sauers and Eric Drummond Smith.

According to Richard Rose, Barter's producing artistic director, "The Hurt estate sale will be an opportunity for area residents and tourists to collect unusual works from a multitude of artists, and invest in the region at the same time. We appreciate Jan's vision in encouraging a new option for late-night entertainment, especially for Barter patrons who would like to something to do after a show at the theatre."

Cathy Lowe, executive director of the Virginia Highlands Small Business Incubator, expressed her excitement. "We are ecstatic that Jan sees value in the Washington County Business Challenge program. Her 'Can't Take It With You' proceeds will benefit either a start-up or expanding business by providing 12 months of funding toward the winning business' expenses for an after-hours entertainment venue."

The Hurts became advocates for Abingdon when they relocated from Texas in 1999, and were awarded the Arthur Campbell Community Service award in 2014, the highest citizen award bestowed by the Town.

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