{"id":686089,"date":"2026-03-27T18:28:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-27T18:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/686089\/"},"modified":"2026-03-27T18:28:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-27T18:28:17","slug":"phoenix-art-center-hosts-butterfly-sculpture-auction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/686089\/","title":{"rendered":"Phoenix art center hosts butterfly sculpture auction"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tButterfly art soars for a good cause at Shemer Art Center.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Courtesy of Phoenix Rotary 100<\/p>\n

Metal butterfly sculptures are fluttering around the Valley to help Phoenix Rotary 100<\/a> raise funds to help children and the homeless.<\/p>\n

Inspired by a sister chapter in Colorado, the century-old club is hosting the third Take Flight<\/a> charity art auction through Sunday, March 29. Thirty local female artists created the 50-plus large\u2011scale butterfly sculptures in conjunction with Women\u2019s History Month. Bids for the 12\u2033x30\u2033x40\u2033 butterflies start at $275.<\/p>\n

A bidders\u2019 reception is noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 29 at the Shemer Art Center, 5505 E. Camelback Road. After an artist meet-and-greet, Butterfly Wonderland will release live butterflies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cButterflies represent transformation and new beginnings, which goes along with a lot of things that we do, whether it\u2019s education or anti-trafficking,\u201d says Daniel Capote, who co-founded the event with fellow Rotarian Lisa Henning.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted to start something new. The first year, we beat the streets and found artists who wanted to participate. Most of them come through referrals, so we don\u2019t have to \u2018audition\u2019 anymore. Based on the type of work they do, we assign them a size and they \u2018do their thing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Capote added that the sculptures are protected by automotive clear coating, allowing them to be displayed outdoors.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of them are gorgeous monarch butterflies, while others serve as a palette for the artists. They might do a desert landscape or a sunrise. In our first year, we had one artist who included astronauts and a Space Shuttle. We donated that one to the Arizona Science Center.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother one was Southwest-themed with chili peppers. That one is located at Butterfly Wonderland in their pollinator garden. So, some resemble butterflies, and others are sculptural artworks. It is all auctioned.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Courtesy of Phoenix Rotary 100<\/p>\n

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Courtesy of Phoenix Rotary 100<\/p>\n

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Courtesy of Phoenix Rotary 100<\/p>\n

For its first year, Rotary 100 solicited artist submissions. By 2025, the roster of artists expanded, and the installations spread further across the city. Now, in its third year, Take Flight has established its identity: part public-art project, part community showcase, part fundraiser.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were looking for something that felt like Phoenix today, not Phoenix in 1985,\u201d said Rotary 100 board member James Patel in a statement. \u201cThe club has a long history, but we\u2019re not interested in being a museum piece. Take Flight was a way to show that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Shemer Art Center\u2019s partnership has been key to that growth, as it provides the space and community outreach.<\/p>\n

\u201cShemer is where the pieces finally come together,\u201d program director Lila Morrison said in a statement. \u201cThe artists get to see their work in a real setting, Rotary gets to connect with the public and we get to support programs that keep this place running.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rotary has spent over a century funding youth programs, supporting schools and backing community initiatives. However, Taking Flight gives Rotary 100 the visibility it needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople see the butterflies before they see us,\u201d Patel says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s fine. If the art gets them to the event, we can tell them the rest of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n

The auction supports Rotary\u2019s community programs and Shemer\u2019s arts education efforts, a practical split that reflects the partnership\u2019s balance. Neither organization treats the event as a branding exercise. It\u2019s work \u2014 useful, collaborative and increasingly efficient.<\/p>\n

As the third annual Take Flight opens to the public, sculptures are arranged in neat rows across the Shemer lawn. Visitors walk among them, take photos, others scan QR codes to check bids.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cRotary has been here for more than 100 years,\u201d Patel says. \u201cIf Take Flight is going to be part of the next 100, that works for me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Butterfly art soars for a good cause at Shemer Art Center. Courtesy of Phoenix Rotary 100 Metal butterfly…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":686090,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5131],"tags":[5229,5643,1587,2879,174474,1589,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-686089","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-phoenix","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-arizona","10":"tag-az","11":"tag-events","12":"tag-philanthropy-nonprofits","13":"tag-phoenix","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-united-states-of-america","16":"tag-unitedstates","17":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","18":"tag-us","19":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116302559372353751","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=686089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/686089\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/686090"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=686089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=686089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=686089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}