Tiny pieces of art — going once, going twice, sold!

The bidding starts at $3. That’s a fraction of a fraction of the price of a typical piece of art.

But at this weekend’s So Small Miniature Art Auction from Radiant Community Arts, where all of the art has to fit within 9 square inches, it’s just right.

The annual auction started in 2014, and raises money for Radiant Community Arts’ class fee scholarship account. Despite the size of the art, the auction is the organization’s biggest fundraiser of the year, Executive Director Jessica Ruth Baker said, owing to artists’ and art fans’ love of tiny, tiny paintings and sculptures.

“It’s so funny how many different modalities people are able to submit tiny art with. We have ceramic tiny art, beaded tiny art, acrylic paints, little mint tin cans,” she said. “I think my favorite pieces that I’ve seen so far have been small potted plants that people made.”

Studio manager Hannah Becker said she’s seen creatives embrace the challenge of painting on a very small easel, or working on other small-scale studio arts.

“I think it pushes them somewhat out of their comfort zone, but also it’s not a huge commitment,” Becker said. “If they’re not used to doing something teeny-tiny, it’s kind of their time to really focus in on something small. Some people take that very, very seriously.”

Putting together a tiny art show

The auction started with pieces that came out of Radiant Community Arts classes, but expanded over the years to welcome donated pieces from local creatives.

Some contributors are regular vendors at Eugene Saturday Market. Others are local crafters wanting to pitch in. All of them relinquish all rights to the art when they donate pieces to Radiant. 

“They expect to never get them back,” Becker said. “Which is really sweet of them to do and come together to help create this, what I like to call a very large, small art show.”

There are tiny versions of Bret Pendlebury’s colorful portraits, Sam Foster’s metallic take on Spencer Butte, Patricia Montoya’s small-scale woven pieces and more.

“She donates these teeny tiny baskets,” Becker said of Montoya’s work. “It’s her great weaving skills and techniques, but shrunk down to like, this big,” she added, miming a very small piece with her hands.

“I think that artists find the challenge of tiny art to be really exciting and interesting,” Baker said. “I know for myself as an artist, I’ve had a really fun time discovering what can I put into this tiny space. How can I challenge myself to create what I want to create without a large canvas to do it with?”

Tiny art comes at tinier prices. The pieces also come with a “buy now” option, from $20 to $100, where people who can’t stay for the entire auction can opt to buy the piece outright, outside of the $3 starting bid and subsequent $5 bid increase minimums. 

“Buy now” is typically for when loved ones want to snag their creative relative’s piece, Becker said.

“People would come up and be like, ‘My dad wants to buy my piece,’” she said. 

Baker pointed to the small prices as an accessibility point, where the auction can bring local handmade pieces into homes and businesses. 

“Art can be expensive sometimes,” Baker said. “We want to pay artists. That’s important. But sometimes it’s really nice to be able to pay $3 to $5 and get a small piece of art that can decorate your home, your business, your bathroom, and be able to have that joy of someone else’s art in your home.” 

If you go

• When: Noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20
• Where: Fifth Street Market Alley, 550 Pearl St., Eugene
• How much: Free to peruse; bidding starts at $3 for any given piece of art.