A fundraiser as unique as the organization it benefits will take place on Wednesday, July 13, at the beautiful Flat Point Farm in West Tisbury. The Plum Hill School will host an outdoors evening celebration that will include local food, cocktails, desserts, a DJ, dancing, and a special art event.
The organization Whatever the Outcome (WTO) will present one of its fun, interactive art unveilings. A 10-foot by 4-foot painting by local artist Nathan Shepard will be assembled piece by piece onsite with the help of party guests.
This will be the 11th event presented by WTO. They have hosted similar art happenings at venues as diverse as the Field Gallery, State Road Restaurant, the Polly Hill Arboretum, the Ritz nightclub, and the Chappy Beach Club. In each case, a local artist was asked to create a huge painting on a magnetic board divided into squares. The work of art was then reassembled on site with guests placing the numbered squares onto a steel backdrop.
WTO founder Craig Miner explained the mission of the organization in an interview with The Times. “We have come to harvest joy,” he said. “I’ve been trying to find a way to incorporate people who don’t really think about art every day. We want to put art into people’s hands. This is kind of a visceral experience where people feel like they’re a part of it, watching it happen.”
Each event features a new work by a different artist. Mr. Shepard comes from a long line of artists. His great-grandfather was a well-known portrait painter from Boston. His father, Bob Shepard, is a mural artist.
Mr. Shepard studied oil painting, sculpture, and art history at the Museum School of Boston. His love of murals led him to study mural painting in Mexico. Along with his large-scale work, Mr. Shepard also paints landscapes and still life in gouache on paper and acrylic on board and canvas. His painting for the Plum Hill School will be viewed by the public for the first time as it comes to life at the event.
The painting project will be just a part of a fun evening of eating, drinking, and dancing under the stars at Flat Point Farm — a historic, multigenerational family farm bordering the Tisbury Great Pond.
According to its website, “The Plum Hill School is a preschool program inspired by Waldorf education, emphasizing imaginative play and reverent, joyful engagement with the natural world.”
The upcoming event will benefit the school’s capital campaign to help build a permanent home for the 15-year-old West Tisbury–based school, and to help raise awareness about Waldorf education.
For more information, visit plumhillschool.com or whatevertheoutcome.com.
