Artist Erika Carter makes a purchase at the 2011 <em>One Night Stand</em>.
Courtesy Photo

Walk by Gallery 27 on East Cota Street after 5 p.m. on Saturday, August 11, and you’ll witness a phenomenon that should send you reeling. Literally every artist and collector in town will be lined up around the block, waiting expectantly to get a glimpse at the art feeding frenzy known as One Night Stand. Art From Scrap’s annual benefit has been happening for 2 years now, yet it seems as if each year the level of excitement grows around this unique opportunity to speculate on art by some of the area’s (and the nation’s) top creators.

The way One Night Stand works is simple. Each artist invited to participate submits one work of an appropriate size (think small) for hanging inside Gallery 27. Names are removed, and every work gets the same price tag: $200. From there, as anyone who’s gone shopping on a Black Friday will know, it’s collectors gone wild. Those willing to pay $100, rather than the standard $25 entry fee, are allowed in the doors at 6:30 p.m. The rest of the line follows at 7 p.m. And don’t even think about cutting!

The upside of the intensity comes in several dimensions. First, there is the amazing quality and variety of the art up for grabs. Want a drawing by Keith Puccinelli or Hilary Brace, or a photo by Jesse Alexander or Jeff Bridges? They can be yours for $200 a pop. And while there’s always the chance that what you see will not be what you get, in this elite group of invited artists, there are no seconds, only alternatives.

Of course, all the energy generated by this event has to be nourished, and that’s where such event sponsors as Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, Deckers, Citrix, Patrón Silver Tequila, and POM come in. They’ll make sure there are plenty of delicious and thirst-quenching options within easy reach. And none of this would make anywhere near the difference it does if it were not all about supporting the extraordinary marriage of art and ecology that’s engineered every day over at Art From Scrap. For tickets and more information, including a complete list of the artists participating, visit onenightstandafs.com.

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