Cod Auction Returns To Marblehead Festival of Arts

MARBLEHEAD, MA – In 2015, as a way to celebrate its 50th festival, the Marblehead Festival of Arts invited 50 local artists to decorate large wooden codfish using any materials they liked. The result of their work was an amazing array of styles and media. The cods were then auctioned online as a fundraiser for the Festival. The Cod Auction was so popular the Festival decided to repeat the event in 2016. Again, it proved popular. So Cods of a Different Color is back for a third year.

"Once again, the contributions from the local art community have been fantastic. We are so grateful for the generosity of both new and returning artists in creating one-of- a-kind artistic cods to support the Marblehead Festival of Arts," said Tammy Nohelty, co-chair of the event.

This year the online auction will start in early June and continue through the Fourth of July. Photos of the decorated cods will be available for view on the Festival’s website, www.marbleheadfestival.org/2017-cods- of-a- different-color/. Individual cod will be displayed in businesses around town. Marblehead merchants along Pleasant Street, Washington Street, and Atlantic Avenue have happily offered spots for them.

Those interested in bidding will be able to register at the on-line auction site, mentioned above, www.biddingforgood.com/MfoA. Each cod is displayed on its own auction page, which also provides information about the artist plus a link to the Marblehead business where that particular codfish is displayed. Cod on display in stores each show a QR code. Store visitors can immediately bid on a cod by scanning the QR code using a mobile device.

"The 2015 and 2016 cod auctions generated a phenomenal response, so we are thrilled to share another collection of fabulous and unique cods this year," said the event’s other co-chair, Mary Alice Alexander.

Image via MFoA, Elemental Fish by Marblehead jeweler, Joyce Mayer Clark.