Loyalhanna Watershed Association is going online with its 36th annual art auction, a major fundraiser for the organization based near Ligonier.

The benefit event, slated Saturday through Oct. 24, features 24 nationally known and local artists. In recent years, it has drawn close to 200 people to the Latrobe Country Club for a reception, dinner and in-person bidding.

With restrictions on the size of indoor gatherings, prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, the association knew an alternate, web-based format was in order this year.

“It’s our largest fundraiser,” according to Susan Huba, executive director of the association. “We didn’t want to cancel it. It’s too important to the artists and to us. We try to support them, and they support us.”

Bidding during the week of the auction will take place online at bidpal.net/stillwaters, which can be accessed from a computer, tablet or mobile device.

Huba hopes that moving the auction online may attract additional bidders who wouldn’t have come to the country club or phoned in an offer.

Images of the 27 original pieces of art up for grabs will be posted on the website. They also will be available for viewing during the week of the auction by visiting G Squared Gallery, 138 E. Main St., in Ligonier.

“This will allow people to see the artwork in person, not just on a computer screen,” Huba said.”We encourage people to come take a look at the pieces they’re interested in.”

“Still Waters” is the theme of this year’s auction, exemplified by paintings such as “Lily on Still Water” by Dix Baines of Colorado and “Ligonier Stream” by Latrobe native Doreen Currie.

“We have artists from Ligonier to the state of Washington,” Huba said. In addition to paintings, the show will feature the thrown pottery of Francis DeFabo of Unity.

During the auction, G Squared Gallery will be open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily, according to Sandra Svilar, a former employee who purchased the business when its previous owners retired in February.

When an association board member suggested the gallery as a venue for viewing the auction art, Svilar “very happily said yes.”

Those stopping at the gallery will receive an auction catalog, she said. Hand sanitizer will be available for visitors, who are required to wear masks inside the gallery.

In addition to previewing the art, Huba said, “We’re hoping people who come into the gallery will find out about our organization.”

Founded in 1971, the watershed association works to protect water resources in a 298-square-mile area that drains into the Loyalhanna Creek.

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