It’s Goodwill with a twist.
A new store opening off Clark Road in Sarasota on Tuesday may be the first in the country to feature only donated art — everything from original works by internationally known artists to ceramics, sculpture and prints.
The idea for the art-only store at 5831 Derek Ave. came from some creative brainstorming by Goodwill Chief Executive Officer the Rev. Don Roberts, Chief Financial Officer Bob Rosinsky and Mary Lou England, vice president of donated goods.
The existing store and donation center that sold traditional donations of clothing and household goods wasn’t doing so well because of its hard-to-find location, said LuAnne Kirschner, marketing and communication director of Goodwill Manasota.
“So we said, ‘Let’s do something creative, what can we do?’” Kirschner said.
The answer was displaying art in hopes it would be a specialty store to draw crowds.
The grand opening of the Art Off Clark store is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday with Dr. Larry Thompson, president of Ringling School of Art and Design, along with well-known artist Frank Hopper, known for portraiture, sculpture and murals in attendance. Hopper is donating some of his pieces to the store along with multimedia artist Frank Colson. The public is invited to the opening to meet the artists and tour the store.
The store also is expected to be a venue for student art from Ringling School of Art and Design. Thompson said some student work will be donated to Goodwill to sell and some will be on display.
“It is a great concept and what a great statement for our community” that the store would be the only one in the United States to be devoted to art, Thompson said.
When art is donated, Kirschner said store managers go online to get an appraisal and then usually offer the piece for half that value.
Money from the sale of the artwork goes to the eight different mission services Goodwill is involved with in Bradenton and Sarasota, as well as Hardee and DeSoto counties, Kirschner said.
If the art concept goes well, Goodwill plans to open a second art store in Bradenton, she said.
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