The Thrift Shop’s annual art sale is a chance to buy art from local donors who are clearing out their collections, and this year buyers will have a selection of necklaces handmade by Jane Dinsmoor and three other volunteers to choose from.
After two jewelry stores donated large bags of jewels to the Thrift Shop, Dinsmoore said Thursday they could have sold “them to a jeweler or we could make them into something.”
Dinsmoor, who for nearly 30 years ran the Main Street Bakery with her husband, would gather with the other volunteers on cold days this past winter to have “beading parties” while watching online tutorials on how to craft different styles of jewelry.
Each of the roughly 75 necklaces they created have been verified by a geologist for authenticity. Not only are the pieces highly valued, there are options for every price point, art sale organizers said.
The sixth annual Art Sale is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Red Brick Center. There is a preview Friday from 4 to 6 p.m.
In addition to the jewelry, this year’s sale has a strong emphasis on local artists, with pieces by artists including Tom Benton who, among other works, was the artist behind Hunter S. Thompson’s posters for his sheriff campaign, and Gino Hollander, who made a name for himself through his work as an abstract expressionist and had an affinity for the mountains around Aspen.
The Thrift Shop is celebrating its 70th year of business. All the proceeds from the sales go to Roaring Fork Valley-area nonprofits. In 2018, over $600,000 was donated to nonprofits throughout the Roaring Fork Valley.
Thrift Shop co-president Ellen Walbert said she continues to be “overwhelmed” by the donations from the community through the years.
“We are so thrilled to be 70 years old and going strong,” Walbert said.