For the Love of Art

The Education Fund’s For the Love of Art Annual Charity Auction & Public School Alumni Achievement Honoree Celebration provides much-needed resources and recognition for children in the visual arts in Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS).  This highly successful annual event, which will occur on May 13, 2024, showcases the essential role of visual arts in stimulating creativity and academic success for all children in our community. It also features artwork created by some of Miami’s most talented students and teachers – a huge draw for attendees, many prominent art collectors among them.

The auction is part of The Education Fund’s district-wide resource program – Ocean Bank Center for Educational Materials, and Ocean Bank is the presenting sponsor.  Each year since 1998, approximately 200 works of art plus luxury items are sold at this high-profile silent art auction, which attracts 700+ art collectors and patrons from the community to raise money for arts education and for the resource center. This Center is now serving more than 1,000 classrooms per year and growing, due to the high demand by teachers who have minimal classroom supply budgets.

The Annual Charity Art Auction is a much-needed source of support for the arts in our public schools, especially during a time of deep budget cuts in public education due to a decline in property values and state tax revenues. The money raised from the auction supports The Education Fund's Ocean Bank Center for Educational Materials, and 100% of the proceeds from the sale of each piece of art go to the art teachers to purchase art supplies for their classrooms that would not otherwise be provided. Mr. Peter DeMercado, a 20+ year art teacher remarked, “If it were not for this program year after year, I would not have the money to supply my students materials for making art.” Thus far, the sale of artwork by children and teachers has raised $11.3+ million dollars for art programs in the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system.