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out of the box
Almost Time to Bid!
Here’s just a little sneak peak at Out of the Box 2013 in Seattle:
And below is a message that just went out to e-news subscribers. We’re so excited about the auction!
On Your Mark, Get Set, Bid!
Just think, as Seattle guests are perusing auction items and placing bids, you can do the same thing on your computer! You can even donate toward the Veterinary Clinic at the same time paddles are being raised in Seattle. To connect those at a distance even more with our Seattle event, we’ll send you the link to the video that guests at Bell Harbor will be watching, as they are watching it, at 9:00pm PST. We’ll be watching the online auction and can update the auctioneer in real-time with online donations being made. I hope you’ll join the fun, and raise your virtual paddles high! You can also follow the Seattle Out of the Box auction through photos and posts on Facebook throughout the evening. Consider celebrating Audrey Hepburn’s birthday today, and place your first bid on this painting of Audrey by Spazy Art.
The artist donated the piece after finding out about the auction through the pre-auction Green Day tickets. Don’t forget, the online auction also features a guitar signed by Green Day members:
Those are just two of the amazing auction items available for online bidding. There’s something for everyone – from art, to gift certificates, to exotic getaways. We JUST added a new amazing getaway to an ecolodge in Ecuador! Bidding on all online items ends Monday, May 6th at 6:00pm. Out of the Box 2013 was made possible by auction committee members Pam Lehnert, Felicity Wood, Connie Robertson, Julie Harding, Patti Sims, and Annie Norris, as well as many, many event volunteers. Big thanks to celebrity host Charlotte Ross:
You can bid on a visit to Paramount Studios with Charlotte! Out of the Box sponsors:
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Today is the day! Over 200 guests will be arriving at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest’s Seattle gala auction at 6pm (PST), and the 
Rock Stars and Getaways
I sat down to write a blog post highlighting Out of the Box 2013 auction items, and quickly became overwhelmed! There are SO many amazing items! I decided to focus on two things – rock stars and getaways.
What auction, I ask you, can you bid on a guitar signed by a chimpanzee??
A couple of weeks ago, we sent out an e-newsletter and posted about the Green Day Tickets in our online auction. Those tickets went to the loveliest of families for $5,640. They had an awesome time at the concert in Berkeley on Tuesday – more on that later.
In addition to the tickets, Adrienne and Billie Joe Armstrong also donated a guitar signed by Green Day members.
But that’s not the only signed guitar in the auction – Jamie “signed” a mini guitar, and we had it framed in a shadow box along with a photo of the rock star herself. This is an item that will be available at our Seattle gala, so you’d better get your tickets now in order to bid on this one-of-a-kind conversation-starting art piece.
Here’s a photo of the guitar before it was framed:
And now, for a couple of getaways –
How about a week on Grand Cayman Island? Jackie and Kevin Downey, friends of Don and Karen Young (as in Young’s Hill), generously donated a week’s stay in their condo on Seven Mile Beach! 
Or an adventure in the Amazon? Volunteer Rozsika went to Peru last year to work on her master’s thesis and decided everyone should be able to experience the beauty of the jungle, so she managed to get this amazing trip donated for the auction.
Both of the above getaways will be available to our Seattle Out of the Box attendees. Did I mention you should get your tickets to this event asap?
For those who will be bidding online, perhaps you’ll be interested in four nights at the Ritz Carlton in Cancun or, for a more casual tropical retreat, bid on a week at The Beachouse in Fiji!
We even have a combination rock star and getaway item – a Recording Studio Vacation at a beautiful bed and breakfast studio in Idaho! You can be your own creative genius for three days making an audio OR video project for private or commercial use, or bring your band to work on that first album!
And all of that is only a small sampling of the auction items! Remember, online bidding opens May 4th and the Seattle event is that night. You can see which items will be available for bidding online by looking at the items as a full list or by sorting by category – the ones that are highlighted will be online; the ones not highlighted will be at the Seattle event.
All proceeds from the auctions will go towards the care of the chimpanzees and the sanctuary’s advocacy work. You can also donate directly to our very important fund-a-need, the veterinary clinic, right now.
Negra Love
A few minutes ago I watched Negra getting a drink of water. She was sitting on the step between rooms three and four and she had her right leg stretched out, with her toes pointed and just touching the floor. The thought went through my mind that I simply love everything she does. The fact that her toes were pointed was a good enough reason to love her in that moment. And then I wondered how many people were thinking about Negra at that very instant. Six years ago, before coming to the sanctuary, the answer probably would have been none. Today, though, Negra has a whole community of people who love her; and that makes me filled with happiness.
Love of Negra is evident in several of the Out of the Box auction items created by supporters this year. Below are three that I have to share, and they are all due to the artistic talents of Margaret H. Parkinson.
Queen Negra is a 20″ x 16″ oil on stretched canvas. It was inspired by a photo of Negra with a royal purple blanket covering her head. The artist, Margaret, is a long-time supporter of Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest – she and her wife Karen were at the sanctuary for our open house before the chimpanzees arrived. She created this painting especially for the Out of the Box auction, and it will be available in our online auction – anyone can bid on it starting May 4th!
Here Comes the Sun Darling Negra by Tamela is an amazing necklace. Margaret gave Tamela permission to use an image of Margaret’s Negra in the Sun painting that she painted for our very first auction in 2009. Tamela handcrafted the pendant. The center of the image is made with a glow in the dark clay and becomes a glowing moon in the dark. The piece that holds the image was also handcrafted by Tamela and is 99.9% pure silver. The necklace strand is made of citrine teardrop beads.
Tamela wrote this about her inspiration to create the necklace:
Margaret’s painting was so beautiful I knew it needed to be wearable art so more people could enjoy it. The high quality translucent citrine teardrop beads were carefully selected because of their meaning and the way they reflect light. Citrines give the owner a feeling of warmth and comfort much like Negra might have in her big fluffy blanket nest. Citrine also raises one’s mood and encourages happiness and laughter. I wanted the necklace to represent the life the chimps now have at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, a life filled with hope, love, warmth, comfort, and happiness, combined with that wonderful feeling of the sun on your face found in the original photo and Margaret’s painting- Negra in the Sun.
I nearly cried when I read that from Tamela.
This next item is a bit of a surprise for Margaret. A few months ago I asked her permission to use one of her watercolor paintings for special magnum bottles of wine that we will have at Out of the Box.
Here is a sneak peak at one of the bottles, which were etched and hand painted, thanks to the help of chimp friend Lynne Anderson:
Inside the bottles is Ellensburg Vista Winery‘s latest release. I like reading tasting notes of wine – lots of “oaky finishes” and “fruit forward” type of language. I’ve tasted this new Rosé and would just like to simplify things and say that it is delicious. Here’s the proper description from the vigneron, Gary Cox: This Rosé is a 2008 Cox Canyon Vineyards Cabernet Franc with just a touch of Viognier to give the wine a Cote Rotié French Flair/Finish. Raspberry is prominent in the nose of this wine, as raspberries are planted in the rows of the wine grapes to allow cross pollination and a direct effect of pollen on the seed of the wine grape, which carries thru to the must as it ferments to wine. Seattle Dining Magazine named it one of the ten best wines at Taste Washington earlier this year.
There will only be twelve bottles available at the May 4th Seattle Out of the Box event! We’ll have a special table for the magnums during the silent auction. Don’t miss out! Get your tickets to the Seattle event now. It’s just three weeks away!
The Veterinary Clinic
It’s hard to believe, but the 2013 Out of the Box Gala Auction is just around the corner. These auctions have always played such an important role in funding the everyday needs of the sanctuary, but they have also been the starting point for some exciting projects through our Fund-a-Need program. Proceeds from the 2009 Fund-a-Need enabled us to build the greenhouse, which quickly became the chimps’ favorite spot year-round. And in 2010, we raised funds for Young’s Hill, providing the chimps with two acres of grass, sun, and sky.
The 2011 Fund-a-Need was the start of a different but equally important kind of project: an on-site veterinary clinic. Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest has always been fortunate to work with a large team of veterinarians to support to health and well-being of the Cle Elum Seven. Whatever happens, we know that we can rely on the expertise of Dr. Richardson, Dr. Nutter, Dr. Newschwander, and Dr. Zamzow, as well as Dr. Mensching, who is the newest member of our team. We are also grateful for the assistance of Mt. Stuart Animal Hospital, which provides us with diagnostic and pharmacy services. But to provide the chimps with the best care possible, we want to have the ability to perform surgical and diagnostic services on-site, and that is why we have begun building a mobile veterinary clinic – a simple, functional, and timely way to meet the veterinary needs of the Cle Elum Seven.
With the money raised in 2011, we have purchased a 38-foot trailer and have begun turning what was once a garage in the back of the trailer into a surgical and exam room.
Project V.E.T.S. generously donated a dual surgical lamp, a microscope, and a wide variety of supplies. If you aren’t familiar with Project V.E.T.S., I encourage you to check out their great work through their website or Facebook page.
Now it’s time to finish what we started. With your help, we will install a shelter and hook-ups for the trailer and outfit the clinic with a full range of equipment, from autoclave and anesthesia machines to portable x-ray and ultrasound.
You can contribute to this project by attending the Out of the Box auction on May 4th in Seattle or by donating to the Fund-a-Need portion of the online auction. And if you have equipment that you would like to donate to our project, we’d love to hear from you.
I just posted this to the Out of the Box event page. Check out the slideshow below and this link for even more photos. What a night!
Chimp Sanctuary NW 2011 slideshow – Images by Karen Ducey
Online Auction Ends Tonight
We would love to follow the success of the Seattle Out of the Box 2011 event by reaching our $20,000 goal for the online auction. We have $3,826 to go in just six hours and 30 minutes. So far we have $1,192 toward the on-site medical clinic through the online auction. This is the best way to give back to the chimps – you can donate in any amount. Do it for Negra!
Although several were snatched up fast, there are still plenty of items available to bid, including a five-night stay at the Ihilani Resort in O’ahu, a private tour of the sanctuary that includes dinner with the staff and an overnight stay, limited edition signed prints of the Philip Herman illustration The Chimps on Young’s Hill (only four left in the auction), a week-long stay on Grand Cayman Island, an opportunity to be a virtual caregiver to the Cle Elum Seven for a whole day, a two-day pass to the Northwest Yoga Conference, and copies of Troll Mania, A Comfy Home and Present Moment, Perfect Moment with photos of the chimpanzees at the sanctuary. On the auction site are the last remaining copies of these books in hardback – no more hardback versions will be printed, so get them now!
Relax at this private pool on the Cayman Islands:
Get the very last available hardback copy of Troll Mania:
