Fabulous Felines art sale raises money for CCAR

Fabulous Felines art sale

CORE unlimited artists sold cat-themed art at Wired Whisker to raise money for Carlton County Animal Rescue.

On Thursday, Wired Whisker hosted a “Fabulous Felines” art sale with paintings drawn by the CHOICE unlimited visual art class. Proceeds went to Carlton County Animal Rescue (CCAR).

CHOICE unlimited is a community-based, private, non-profit organization dedicated to supporting adults with disabilities and individuals experiencing barriers to employment and inclusion in the community. Maria Brown is the Visual Arts Instructor at CHOICE unlimited and said in every session, they look for topics and themes for the art.

“One of everybody’s favorite topics would be pets and everybody loves the idea of cats,” said Brown. “We’re blessed to have a wonderful neighbor like Wired Whisker, and it just kind of came together all on its own. They recommended CCAR and the rest is history.

There were 22 paintings in the sale, each created by a different artist. The event was expected to go from three to 4:30 pm, but the paintings sold out in around 20 minutes.

Each painting at the “Fabulous Felines” art sale was made to represent a cat that needs a home (CORE unlimited).

“It’s been kind of a shock to see it go so fast but also a real joy because it’s cool to see the community responding like this to something so wonderful,” said Brown. “Everybody was just very excited to see a collaboration between all of these different organizations. We have a business. We have an animal rescue. We have organization and human services, and we all share some of the same interests. So it’s really fun to get together and do something in the arts.”

According to CCAR Intake Coordinator Meredith Kujala, there were people lined up at the door before the event started. Kujala said the rescue is thankful for the partnerships of CORE unlimited and Wired Whisker and for the support from the community.

“w”We do not have a shelter right now. We are in the middle of a huge shelter campaign fund,” said Kujala. “But in the meantime, we’re all foster-based, and so right now we have about 130 cats. As of last night, we took in another litter of puppies around midnight, so we have about 30 dogs. Being only foster-based means they’re only in homes. That’s quite a bit for us.”

With the art show being so successful, CCAR and Core unlimited are already talking about having another art sale, this time with dog-themed artwork.

If you would like to help Carlton County Animal Rescue, the link to donate is here. Foster homes are also always needed. All of the cats at Wired Whisker are also available for adoption.