One man’s trash is another man’s treasure

If you head down to the Masterworks Yart Sale next Saturday, you might walk home with more than you bargained for. 

The gallery has been inundated with donations from the community
including everything from kid’s clothes, shoes and bikes to silverware, blown glass and, yes, you guessed it… art.

The goods will be on sale at the Botanical Gardens from 10am to 4pm and funds raised will go towards the upkeep of the Masterworks Museum of Bermuda Art and its
community programmes.

What’s more, there will be ‘mystery bags’, some of which will contain a
valuable item.

“It could be anything from a Masterworks membership to a nice piece of art,” explained Elise Outerbridge, curator at the gallery.

Museum founder and director Tom Butterfield said: “We came up with the idea of a sale but we had to get past the idea that it was going to be just a normal yard sale. 

“We started to appeal to our members and to start with it was slow. The thought was if we call it a Yart Sale they would get the idea. Now, the question is, what hasn’t come in? In the last month it has been raining art, shoes, clothes, toys, pictures, bar stools… People have cupboards full of prints and artwork that they don’t know what to do with. They never get round to hanging them.”

Outerbridge added: “Everything at the sale is a bargain. We want people to come and haggle and
bargain it will be like a Turkish market.”

Masterworks decided to hold the Yart Sale to help raise needed funds, not only for the upkeep of the building and exhibitions, but also for its many educational services including its summer camps, after school programmes and Super Saturdays programme.

Butterfield said: “On a more serious note, the
issue is that for us, large gifts to help run the museum seem to have diminished quite a bit. We have a need to continue to put our best foot forward in this museum. It is not really all about us spending too much money — it is about how well we can make things presentable. That takes a bit of running and I don’t think we should reduce the idea about being the best.” n

The Yart Sale takes place at the Botanical Gardens on October 26 from 10am to 4pm.