STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

What is art?

According to actor Andrew Alburger, it’s “the soundtrack of your life.” Aspiring photojournalist Leo Corrales says it’s “an extension of one’s soul.” And one elementary school student says it’s simply, “Awesome.”

Marty Albertson, who sits on the board of the national advocacy group Americans for the Arts, told a sell-out Wine Auction audience Friday night that the arts can be a game changer among youth.

Arts in education provides students with the ability to express themselves, enhances their problem solving skills and gives them the confidence to argue with their CEO when they think they have an important perspective worth sharing, said Albertson. Arts in schools help increase graduation rates, he added.

The Blaine County School District’s graduation rate has increased three straight years, he said, in part due to the arts education programs the Sun Valley Center for the Arts takes into the schools.

To keep that streak going, The Center asked more than 350 participants at their 36th annual Wine Gala to raise their paddle in support of the kids. And patrons responded, pledging $600,000 to the cause.

They also bid as much as $17,000 each on such trips as a fly fishing trip in the Pyrenees, a wine tour of Tuscany, a vacation on a private island off the coast of Belize and an après ski dinner prepared by a San Francisco chef who was named James Beard Best Chef of the West.

Wells Fargo, which has donated more than $1 million to The Center over the past eight years, offered to match forty $1,000 contributions. And wine auction co-chairs Carol Swig and Sarah Woodward kept the matching bids alive when they realized they were short two.

A scholarship was created in honor of Jack Thornton, one of The Center’s early benefactors. Thornton, who served several stints on The Center’s board, was among a group of young wine aficionados who saw the potential of an event that would combine talented vintners with extravagant dishes prepared by great chefs.

Set against the backdrop of Sun Valley’s mountains, the Sun Valley Center for the Arts Wine Auction not only has become one of the top 10 wine auctions in the country but it has inspired similar events around the country.

It also has inspired an army of volunteers, some of whom have come out to help with it for years because of scholarships their sons or daughters received from  The Center to explore various facets of the arts in-depth.

Others, like Lynn MacKenzie are newer to the program but were just as busy, doing everything imaginable from stapling together a broken shoe for one attendee to taking pictures of couples who preferred not to go the selfie route.

Ketchum residents David and Jill Hitchin, who opened their home for a lavish vintner dinner, were still gushing about the 10 wine glasses put in front of each diner.

“I could only take a little sip from each,” said Jill.

The Sun Valley Center for the Arts offers more than 300 programs annually serving more than 40,000 people, including 7,000 students, said Christine Davis-Jeffers, the organization’s executive director.

“Art enables us to see things differently and, in the process, it inspires innovation,” she added.

It offers connection, as well, bringing people together despite their differences, said others.

Actor Denise Simone noted how students participating in Company of Fools’ Stage of Wonder creative movement workshops get to learn without worrying about pass-fail because nothing’s off limits.

“It’s the most liberating way to learn,” she added.