SMITHFIELD

Twenty-four artists recently completed a 24-inch by 36-inch reproduction of Austrian avant-garde artist Gustave Klimt’s “The Kiss,” and are now auctioning the finished product as a fundraiser for the Arts Center @ 319 in downtown Smithfield.

According to Arts Center director Sheila Gwaltney, the artists divided the reproduction into 24 squares, each measuring six inches by six inches, and then each paid $5 to paint an individual square, resulting in a mosaic version of Klimt’s masterpiece. The artists used a variety of mediums to recreate their individual segments, including watercolor, oil and acrylic paint; pastels; colored pencils; artists’ crayons; markets and ink. Some squares were covered in paper collage and others used snippets of printed photos.

Participating artists were Cil Barbour, Cami Brooks, Tammy Burgett, Bobbi Canellas Connie Chapman, Germaine Curry, Diane Greenhalgh, Lily Grubbs, Sheila Gwaltney, Mark Hall, Ginger Hill, Bonnie Horne, Brenda Joyner, Brenda Lovell, Susan Maltby, Juliette Marshall, Barbara Lively Mastaglio, Diane Milner, Yvonne Munson, Elizabeth Orrock, Russell Parrish, Diane Rountree, Pat Swindell and Don Williams.

The assembled, framed mosaic is on display in the Arts Center @ 319, and is offered for purchase by silent auction, with the proceeds benefiting the Arts Center, which is a program of the 501c3 nonprofit Isle of Wight Arts League. All bids will be on the posted sheet monitored by the Arts Center staff and volunteers. The last day for phone-in bids (no voicemail or texts) is on Sunday, July 28, during Arts Center hours. To phone in a bid, call 357-7707. Bidding will end on Wednesday, July 31, at noon. The winning bid will be announced on Thursday, Aug. 1.