For the month of November, the Shorewood Artists Guild is holding a fall art auction and gallery to showcase some new pieces. 

Starting Nov. 2, the artworks of the 14 participating artists are available for viewing at local Shorewood businesses. Bidding for the online auction ends at noon on Dec. 6. 

“It is an event that pretty much gathers the Shorewood local artists together and allows them to get together for the community to show their work,” said Meghan McGrath, artist. “COVID has been a little hard on everyone and this is a way for us to come together.” 

The Shorewood Artists Guild is a local group that started in early 2018. The group is mostly made up of volunteers since they do not have a formal structure. They organize and operate through their Facebook group: Shorewood Artists Guild. 

“We only have two criteria for anyone joining the group — that you live in Shorewood and you identify yourself as an artist,” said Sangeeta Patel, artist. 

Patel was the main organizer for this event, giving others a chance to show off their artwork. One of the goals of the group is to help each other grow as artists in a variety of ways. 

“Members of our group were lamenting that we would have to forgo a gallery night that we had been planning,” Patel said. “I threw out the idea of doing an online auction and partnering with the Shorewood Business District to host artwork throughout Shorewood, and we immediately had many artists who wanted to participate.” 

By including some open local businesses, people can get outside and walk around without congregating in one space. This is also beneficial for the online auction. 

“It allows people who might be actually interested in purchasing the art to actually see the physical piece itself as opposed to just a photo online of the artwork,” said John O’Hara, photographer. “It’s always nice to actually see the physical piece.”

O’Hara will be showing five of his photographs at City Market Cafe & Bakehouse. His work includes landscapes of a black and white interior of a 1950s cafe in Cedarburg, breathtaking cliffs in Northern Ireland where he traveled there with his family two years before and a lightning storm shown from the top of Atwater Beach. 

McGrath is another one of the artists displaying their artwork. As the locations were designated to each artist based where their pieces fit best, McGrath was assigned Metro Market. Her work will be shown in the cafe part, along with artwork by SeonJoo So Oh. 

Her artwork is quite big, taking up a 4 by 4 foot space. She specializes in working with paint and with the idea of memories. 

“I am interested in dissecting characteristics and connecting them visually,” McGrath said. “Rather than nostalgia, memory serves as a visual history.”

She joined the Guild around two years ago after moving to Shorewood from Chicago. She hopes to continue her work and establish herself as a part of this local group. 

Overall, O’Hara thinks this is a great way to show the community that the arts aren’t going away anytime soon. 

“As a group of local artists, we thought it was important to put together something that was also not only a visual reminder to the community that artists are there, but give an economic possibility to give the artists something even though we can’t do gallery shows,” O’Hara said. 

The local businesses showing art are Falbo Bros. Pizzeria, City Market Cafe & Bakehouse, Ethereal Acupuncture, Casa de Corazón, Metro Market, Black Bear Boutique, North Shore Boulangerie, Just Goods, Bonoo American Bistro and Indulgence Chocolatiers. 

The online auction can be found at www.airauctioneer.com/ShorewoodArtAuction.