General admission will be free that day and anyone who wants to bid on items will pay $10 for a bid card. Everyone is welcome and there will be live music, a cash bar and refreshments.
“We want to make it fun for families and a chance to own the work of this special artist or to see her work,” said Jessimi Jones, SMoA executive director.
After Bronkar’s passing in April 2023 at age 88, her daughter, Ramona Bronkar Bannayan, an Urbana High School graduate, inherited more than 900 of her mom’s works in numerous mediums including paintings, sculptures, prints and more. At Bronkar’s request, several friends and others were gifted certain works.
Bannayan suggested an auction was a good way to memorialize Bronkar’s work, get them to those who’d appreciate them and help the SMoA. Along with being an early member and getting her teaching start there, Bronkar also placed in several of the annual Juried Art Shows, had two exhibitions of her work, most recently in 2014, and Bannayan was married there in the early 1990s.
“Mom was really close to the museum and I kind of grew up in the museum. It was always near and dear to me,” Bannayan said. “It will be really lovely to get these works into homes and to help keep the museum’s legacy alive.”
The works will include large and small paintings, mostly oils, acrylics, pastels, watercolors and drawings and will consist of landscapes, still lifes and even local places including the Madonna of the Trail statue, Clifton Mill and bridges.
“Her work was precise, realistic, sensitive, gentle and exuberant at the same time. She was a keen observer. She started in high school and just went on,” Bannayan said. “Mom was still drawing up to a few days before her passing. It was her happy place.”
Jones said people may have no idea of the work that goes into maintaining a collection of more than 2,000 pieces of artwork such as the SMoA’s, 95 percent of which is in storage. It has to be stored in appropriate ways, kept away from light so not to fade, have proper backing, maintain the correct humidity levels and so on.
Her mother’s love of art rubbed off on Bannayan, who spent 31 years as the senior deputy director at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. She was supportive with technical resources on light levels, offering sources for helping the SMoA with light remediation.
The SMoa will also maintain several scrapbooks with cards, letters, newspaper articles and other items in its collection and keep Bronkar’s memory alive as well as through a new endowment fund.
The Eunice and Charles Broker Endowment Fund for Collections Care will be established to help the museum preserve its works for years to come.
“This type of generosity is truly incredible,” said Jones. “Ramona is reenergizing our creativity to help our collection and it’s truly special. We hope the public will join us for a beautiful day and go home with some beautiful artwork by a local artist.”
MORE DETAILS
Those who cannot attend the auction and still want to to contribute to the maintenance of the SMoA’s collection can do so through its website at springfieldart.net.
About the Author