The annual “Memories in the Making” art auction often reduces people to tears.
More than half of the art — some surprisingly professional, some decidedly amateur — was made by patients with Alzheimer’s disease. The Alzheimer’s patient paintings are paired with a professional artists’ work.
At the June 10 auction, a piece can fetch up to $4,000 when the bidding gets heated. (What floundering economy?)
Artist and Alzheimer’s patient Marian Noble created a vivid grouping that suggests tulips or perhaps autumn foliage. Earlier in her life, Noble and her husband built a homestead in Alaska, still a territory then in 1952.
Noble fished for food, dug trenches around the couple’s homestead and warmed their house with logs she sawed herself. Her husband worked at a nearby air base and taught her to repair the float planes that are used like cars in remote areas of Alaska.
Another painting is by Bill Nickerson, one of Denver’s first African-American firemen. His naif image of a football is paired with a contribution from the Denver Broncos.
The Memories in the Making auction starts at 5:30 p.m. June 10 at Invesco Field.
