GREAT FALLS – The main event of Western Art Week wrapped up on Saturday.
The Russell Live Auction got underway just after 5:00 p.m. at the Mansfield Convention Center.
142 works of art were sold with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the C.M. Russell Museum.
The sale included several original Russell works from private collections.
Guests had the opportunity to bid on art and enjoy a gourmet dinner.
People attending the auction also had the opportunity to peruse more than 20 mini galleries of Russell Skull Society Artists.
Museum staff said that Western Art Week has grown and taken on a life that would make Charlie Russell proud.
“I think for anybody who has been involved in this it’s a humbling feeling,” says C.M. Russell Museum Director, Tom Figarelle. “Charlie loved Great Falls, Charlie loved a good time, Charlie loved his friends and really that’s what art week is for Great Falls. It’s about bringing friends together and you’re kind of doing that in the spirit of Charlie, so it’s carrying on his legacy and it’s really just having fun and doing it amongst western art.”
The auction proceeds make up a major part of the C.M. Russell Museum’s annual operating budget.
-Reported by Joe Huisinga/MTN News
