By Eliz Dowdy

The event was held atop City Hall in downtown Riverside, on the 7th floor at the Grier Pavilion. Fine art aficionados had the opportunity to bid for their favorite pieces that they could envision hanging in a prominent place in their homes or offices.

The ambiance was peaceful; below them stretched the skyline of Riverside, the music was flowing from the guitars of jazz/gospel recording artist Doc Powell, who can be seen weekly on the Monique Show on BET. Local comedian/ auctioneer Shawn Kelly loosened everyone up with his expertise for the art of auctioning items.

There was also a silent auction with quality items to suit even the most fastidious collectors.

Synthia Saint James, world renown artist and illustrator, whose work trail leads from designing the first Kwanzaa stamp for the United States post office to the cover of Terri McMillan's book, “Waiting to Exhale.” Alice Walker and Iyanla Vanzant book covers have been designed by Saint James. She was born in Los Angeles, and attended Los Angeles Valley College and Duchess Community CollegePoughkeepsie, New York. She has worked as an actress, freelance writer, publicist, and accountant. Saint James has a tile mural hanging on the wall at the Ontario International Airport in California.

The fundraiser provided fun for the attendees, but its purpose goes far beyond fun and art collections. The corporation is raising funds to build a boys’ group home, The Real Life Center, for those youth negatively impacted by dysfunctional home lives, according to board chair, Dr. Ron Gibson.

BerniE is the artist who was commissioned to create the bust of Booker T. Washington that is in the entryway of the Mission Inn Hotel in Riverside. Charles Bibb is another local artist whose work has received world-wide acclaim. He maintains a studio in Moreno Valley.

Art lovers were able to take quality work home with them and the vision for the boys’ home has become more concrete.