Collectors’ Night 2025 will take place on Thursday, May 1st in downtown Washington, DC.

For 45 years, WPA’s art auction (Collectors’ Night) has been a staple of the DC art scene. Collectors’ Night is not only an opportunity to celebrate with our community, but also provides essential support for the powerful, artist-organized contemporary art programs that WPA produces right here in DC. Proceeds from the auction directly benefit the participating artists and WPA, as all sales are split 50-50.

Attendees will enjoy a fully catered Cocktail Party including drinks and hors d’oeuvres, as you immerse yourself in an installation of more than 150 artworks by some of the most exciting artists working in the region today, all available for purchase in the online auction. You will also get to learn about WPA’s 5-decade history of supporting trailblazing art in the District through a special 50th Anniversary retrospective presentation. The night will be filled with music, food, drink, and plenty of art-viewing and bidding! 

The 100+ participating artists were sourced through our open call or recommended to WPA by curators, arts professionals, and other artists. The online auction will be powered by Artsy, an international arts sales platform that averages more than 2,000,000 visitors per month. The auction will be open from April 18–May 2, closing at noon on Friday, the day after Collectors’ Night.

Artists

Quaran Ahmad • cassandra mayela allen • Chukwudumebi Gabriel Amadi-Emina • Sondra N. Arkin • Rick Bach • Abol Bahadori • Sophia Belkin • Joan Belmar • Ama BE • Julia Bloom • Sabrina Cabada • Colby Caldwell • Jermaine jET Carter • Aishwariya Chandrasekar • Chang Sujung • Julia Chon • Michèle Colburn • Chris Combs • Will Connally • Cynthia Connolly • Sheila Crider •  Nancy Daly & Kim Llerena • Delna Dastur • Kyrae Dawaun • Catherine Day • Frank Hallam Day • Danielle De Jesus • Rachel Dickerson • Sara Dittrich • Brandon Donahue-Shipp • Mary Early • Alex Ebstein • Bria Edwards • Yacine Tilala Fall • Lola Flash • Michiko Fujii Fowler • Christopher French • Emily Fussner • Janis Goodman • Xenia Gray • Holly Harris • Mira Hecht • Jessica Maria Hopkins • Phaan Howng • Katty Huertas • Tae Hwang • Misha Ilin • Martha Jackson Jarvis • Roberto Jamora • Ashley Ja’nae • Omari Jesse • traci johnson • Debbi Kenote • Joanne Kent • Adele 이슬 Kenworthy • AnaMarie V. King • Micheline Klagsbrun • Steven Kleinrock • Ara Koh • Andrew Kung • Xyl Lasersohn • Magnolia Laurie • Kyujin Lee • Mehves Lelic • Nathan Loda • Jon Malis • Katherine Tzu-Lan Mann • Alpha Massaquoi Jr. • Rogelio Maxwell • Bryan McGinnis • Jonna Elinor McKone • Maggie Michael • Jimmy Miracle • Neha Misra नेहा मिश्रा • Jonathan Monaghan • Michele Montalbano • Jamie Nares • Curtis Newkirk Jr. • William A. Newman • Nazanin Noroozi • Joy Nutt • Betsy Packard • Lauren Portada • John Ralston V • Austin Remetta • D’Metrius Rice • Sean Riley • Kiara-Maribel Rivera • jordan hamlett sanders • Amanda Sauer • Alexandra Silverthorne • Anne C. Smith • Jeff Spaulding • Leigh Suggs • Emon Surakitkoson • Mehmet Uskul • Germán Ayala Vázquez • Jenny Walton • Wickerham & Lomax • Redeat Wondemu • Sue Wrbican • Carter Wynne • Bahar Yürükoğlu • Hu Zeqian

Benefit Auction & How to Bid

The online auction can be found on Artsy here. Bidding will be open starting on Friday, April 18 at noon until May 2, 2025 at 12:00pm, with Lots closing in 1-minute increments.

To place bids on Artsy, the first step is to create an account at artsy.net (click the “Sign Up” button). Then you must register for this auction, which you can at any point during the sale period. Note that your registration may take 24 hours to process before you can place any bids. The auction will also appear in the “Current Auctions” section.

Use your web browser or the Artsy app to view Lots in the auction. When you see a Lot you would like to bid on or learn more about, you can view more information by clicking the thumbnail image. You can click “Ask a Specialist” for any additional questions for Artsy, or you can contact WPA directly by emailing Emily Fussner at efussner@wpadc.org.

You can bid in two ways: 1) enter a bid that is higher than the existing bid, or 2) place a maximum bid and allow the system to bid on your behalf (in predetermined increments) up to your maximum bid amount. Setting up a maximum bid may be useful if you will be busy during the cascade closing period starting at 12:00pm on Friday, May 2, and want to ensure you do not miss bidding on your desired artworks. Please note that maximum bid amounts are only executed if there is a competing bidder up to that amount.

The bidder with the highest bid when the sale ends is the purchaser of the artwork. Note that Artsy will not take payment, but will notify you of your winning bid using the email associated with your Artsy account. WPA staff will contact you via email by Monday, May 5, 2025 to confirm the artwork(s) you have won and to process payment. Please note that Artsy requires a 15% Buyers Premium charge on all sales.

More details about fees, tax, and shipping can be found here.

Host Committee

Ann Anderson and Mike Hickok, Susan and Dixon Butler, Caitlin and Christopher Clark, Ashley and J.K. Givens, Elizabeth and Brendan Graham, Peter Hapstak, Nancy Hirshbein and Robert Roche, Elise Hoffmann and Chris Niemczewski, Michelle Isabelle-Stark, Alexa and Brent Kaye, Jun Li and Sherry Russell, Connor and Madeline Locke, Deirdre and Andy MacWilliams, George and Karen Marcou, Michael Marshall, Elise and Steven Museles, Jessica and Ragan Naresh, Frederick P. Ognibene, M.D., William Paley, Elizabeth Pisano and Tabb Wyllie, Stefanie Reiser, Jim Ritter, Art Silpasuvan and Debbie Tang, Paul So, Kim Tignor and Abdul Fouzi, Gary Williams Jr.

Corporate Sponsors

Questions

Contact Alexandra Silverthorne, asilverthorne@wpadc.org