A lot of people admired and bought copies of this year’s French Quarter Festival poster, which featured Kermit Ruffins. But if you loved that poster so much that you’ve dreamed of owning the original, here’s your chance. Next week, 2013 French Quarter Festival official poster artist, Tami Curtis-Ellis will place her original painting up for auction. The work shows Crescent City horn hero Ruffins in front of the majestic St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square, the hub of the annual festival.

Curtis-Ellis will open bidding for the original canvas on Sunday, June 9 and run the online auction through the following Sunday, June 16. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the original piece will be donated to the Roots of Music youth organization, the featured local music non-profit program of this year’s 30^th French Quarter Festival. The commemorative 30^th anniversary poster designed by Curtis-Ellis was one of two official French Quarter Festival posters and is presented on the artist’s website in progressive design stages in a unique creative process display here.

You can participate in the online auction of the original artwork by simply e-mailing your name and contact phone number to [email protected]. Please include ‘auction participant’ in the subject heading. Once you have submitted your bid via e-mail, you will then be sent information of the time and reserve bid for the auction.

The bidding will be conducted over the course of one week with participants receiving electronic updates on the current bid as it ticks up. The prize artwork is matted and framed, as well as signed by Curtis-Ellis and Ruffins.

 

Regular edition posters can be purchased for $45 by visiting the French Quarter Festival website here fqfi.org.  Additionally, Curtis-Ellis is offering a limited edition of 30 remarqued posters for $300 each. For more information, please visit the artist’s website, www.tamicurtisellis.com.