Love. Hope. Family .

life979.com fargo-moorhead is a creative hub, a mecca for industry and home to a plethora of nonprofit organizations. But the worlds of art, business and advocacy don’t always interact. A fundraiser sponsored and hosted by The Arts Partnership (APT) hopes to change that.

The event is called “Creating Good” and it offers a twist on the traditional art auction that community members often see at fundraisers for nonprofit organizations. Guests at the APT Creative Incubator at 225 4th Avenue North in Fargo on September 28 will enjoy cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and the opportunity to bid on art from ten up-and-coming artists. But exactly how they bid is the twist.

Instead of asking the artists to donate their work to raise money for a nonprofit, area businesses will contribute funds to purchase the art. The guests eager to win artwork at the auction will be bidding not with money, but with their time and talents. Instead of cash, bidders will offer volunteer hours to various non-profit organizations, including The Arts Partnership, Cultural Diversity Resource, River Keepers, FM Opera, Immigrant Development Center, CHARISM, Great Plains

connecting businesses, artists and nonprofit organizations

Food Bank, Unseen Ministries, American Red Cross and more. Tickets are $25 and will be for sale on eventbrite.com until September 27.

“This event focuses on filling skills-based needs in nonprofit organizations in areas they don't have capacity. Some need web design and marketing help, while others need help researching best practice ideas, preparing for an audit, and organizing an event,” explains Jennifer Schillinger, who is the creator of this event and the founder and CEO of Strengths Advantage, a West Fargo-based company that offers development training to individuals, managers and teams. “There are so many talented professionals in our community with a lot to offer nonprofits. This is an opportunity for them to connect what they do best, to help fill the gaps in these organizations and help make a real impact in our community.”

Winning bidders will complete the volunteer hours within six months of the event. The artwork will be displayed either in the business that contributed the funds to purchase it or at the nonprofit organization that will benefit from the volunteer hours until the project is complete. It’s a win for everyone, says Schillinger. The businesses can display interesting, original art and support the artists that created it, non-profit organizations receive valuable assistance from professionals and form important contacts with the business community and skilled workers are able to contribute to a good cause and expand their art collections without opening their wallets. On top of that, artists still get paid a fair market value for their work. That’s important too, says Dayna Del Val, president and CEO of The Arts Partnership.

“I think that the arts take a disproportional hit when being asked to donate for fundraisers for other organizations,” she says. “I really like that this is acknowledging that art happens to be artists’ work and they need to be paid for it.”

“I think this event just makes sense,” agrees Schillinger. “It recognizes and elevates the wonderful creativity and work of local artists, it showcases nonprofit organizations doing great work, and it gives people an opportunity to do what they do best and make the community better.”

Fostering connections between different sectors of the community in order to promote art and culture in the Fargo-Moorhead metro is what the “Creating Good” event is all about. Schillinger and Del Val hope that this event introduces a new generation of residents to the vibrant art scene that makes these communities unique.

“It’s shocking how fabulous the arts are in this community,” says Del Val. “We have way more art and culture than we should reasonably expect where we live. I think that truly, this is a community where, from birth to death, cradle to grave, you can really be involved in the arts. That’s an astonishing privilege for a community of this size.”