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* The 12th Annual Bemis Art Auction set a high goal last Saturday night: Raise a half-million dollars in support of art in Omaha. And though the multi-day event didn’t quite reach it’s goal, it still beat the record of past auction sales, raising more than $460,000. The sales break down like this: $40,200 worth of art sold in “buy it now” pre-auction sales and $29,400 worth of work sold in the Thursday night Bemis Underground Auction. The “Cashcade” portion of the live auction, where patrons donate money without taking any art home, raised $33,850. The main event including both the silent and live auctions raised $270,100. The four events raised $50,000 more than the 2009 auction. More than 1,000 people attended the preview party, Underground Auction and Gala, with 631 there Saturday night. Betty Woodman’s “Balustrade Relief Vase 95-12” was the final live auction item and sold for a whopping $20,000. Other notable sales: Vera Mercer’s still life “All Ducks” and the late Kent Bellows’ “River Bank” sold for $8,000 each; Karen Kunc’s “Heiroglyphics” sold for $7,750; and two works by Deborah Masouka, “Rabbit Head” and “Bird Head” sold for $14,000 and $11,000 respectively. * Omaha artist Mary Day opens a show at the Old Market’s Gallery 616 tonight. The work in the show, called Sustenance, is inspired by Day’s participation in the Emerging Terrain Silo Project — her large-scale piece featuring a drawing of corn is on one of the silos — and the role food plays in the world. The show features new drawings from Day. She said that in creating the work she considered rhythm and movement, surface and structure, space and light, and how they contrast. Emerging Terrain, she said, urged her to think about agribusiness, hunger and sustainability while she made this work. The show opens Thursday, Nov. 11, 6-9 p.m. at the gallery, 616 S. 11th St. n The holidays will soon be here and the third annual Holiday Craftacular is back just in time for gift-giving. For one night only, Thursday, Nov. 18 from 5-8 p.m., a group of local artists gather to sell their wares at Zen’s Lounge, 122 N. 11th St. in downtown Lincoln; it’s a perfect chance to buy gifts for others and maybe one for yourself. Artists include Pin Curl Girls, Emmy + Ivy, Nolan Tredway, Casey Sheppard Designs, Sara Bucy/Handmade Modern, Meghan Stratman, William Holland, Owl People, Erika Eden, and four new vendors: Kira Designs, The Foof Queens, Pretty Good Things and NimaSprout. Mixed Media is a column about art. Get local art updates at weekfiftytwo.com. Send ideas to mixedmedia@thereader.com.

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