Artwork hung last week for Beaumont Art League’s upcoming combination BAL/Humane Society fundraiser. Jake Daniels/@JakeD_in_SETX
On one white wall of the Beaumont Art League, a dog dressed as Moses holds up two tablets containing the 10 Commandments: Heel, stay, come, fetch, sic ’em. And so on.
Nearby is a small painting of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and, in the corner, a dolphin carved from butternut wood leaps from a tiny sea of manzanita burl.
This weekend, BAL’s main gallery is filled with a particular kind of art created to benefit a particular set of animals: local animals. Or, to be more specific, animals currently residing at the Humane Society of Southeast Texas.
“You may not like art, but everybody loves animals,” said Jennifer Richard, a BAL board member and chair of this weekend’s show and auction benefitting the Humane Society. All the artwork in the main gallery is centered around the animal theme.
In this gallery, as in the Internet at large, cats seem to be the topic du jour. But there’s also some striking non-feline work, like a heavily vignetted black and white photograph of a snake wrapped around a woman’s hair and a colorful glass octopus climbing out of a large glass jug, its purple tentacle beckoning you closer to examine the intricate detail work.
It’s been 15 years since BAL and the Humane Society got together to raise funds for each other, but the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce — through a workshop a few months back — is encouraging local non-profits to team up for the betterment of all.
“We’re both non-profits and we have to have fundraisers to keep our doors open,” Richard said.
For the Humane Society, local fundraisers are particularly important because the organization gets no support from national organizations — just local donations.
BAL's Humane Society show
“For us it will be to continue help caring for animals,” said Audine Rathburn, office administrator and volunteer coordinator at the Humane Society of Southeast Texas.
This time of year, there are a lot of animals — puppy and kitten season just wrapped up — which means kennels are filled to the brim with sweet little critters hoping for a forever home.
“You wouldn’t be working here if you didn’t love animals, because it’s a tough job for anybody,” Rathburn said. “We kind of wring our hands a lot, because it’s tough.”
Even for animal lovers, volunteering at the Humane Society — all those tiny little eyes peering at you with all your anthropomorphized hopes and fears projecting right back at you — can be tough.
Richard knows that firsthand. During a meeting about the fundraiser three months ago, she left the Humane Society with her own little four-legged bundle of joy.
Even if you can’t adopt, an event like this makes it easy to give back while taking home a little something for your bare walls.
Almost 130 pieces have been collected for the show, with proceeds benefitting both organizations. The live auction features all varieties of work, including paintings by an artist who can’t make the show because he’s currently, Richard said, working on a mural for Matthew McConaughey. All right, all right, all right.
But even if you don’t have the cash to pick up a piece, there’s always walls full of art to explore and cheese and wine to dine on — along with opportunities to throw a few bucks in the direction of non-profits that benefits some of our favorite things: art and kittens.
Beaumont Art League & Humane Society of Southeast Texas Fundraiser
When: 6-10 p.m. Saturday
Where: Beaumont Art League, 2675 Gulf St., Beaumont
Cost: Free