Augusta University alumna hosts art auction for Ukraine relief

For Regina Brejda, her love of art goes back to her high school days — she just didn’t know how it would pay the bills. Originally a business major at Augusta University, she switched to art and graduated from Pamplin College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Science in 2012.

Three years later, with a fellow classmate, Brejda opened 4P Studios and is still following her dreams.

After starting the business in a 1,000-square-foot space, 4P Studios moved to its current location in Martinez, which tripled their working space and gave Brejda added room to include pottery and woodwork projects. The timing wasn’t the best, however, as the move happened in the fall of 2019 and the COVID-19 pandemic began six months later.

“We really hit the ground running and our classes were filling up, then March hit,” said Brejda. “We were very fortunate we had a lot of students who continued to do virtual stuff with us over the lockdown and quarantine, so we were able to continue to pay our bills.”

4P Studios routinely showcases exhibits for new and established artists. They also have a partnership with Augusta Regional Collaboration to manage their gallery space, which is large enough to showcase a wide variety of artists or an artist who has a very large collection.

A new project for Brejda and 4P Studios is an art auction to raise money for Ukrainian people escaping the war with Russia.

“It was a conversation that was happening quite regularly amongst my friends, and a lot of the artists felt so helpless. Rachel Bingaman, a local artist from Grovetown, reached out saying she had artist friends in California that did an auction and raised over $25,000, and wondered if I could help her auction one of her pieces. The more we talked about it, the more she was like, ‘Do you think other artists would be interested?’”

There are nearly 50 pieces of work to bid on and the online auction will be open until 11:59 p.m. March 24.

Money raised will go to the nonprofit Water Mission based in Charleston, South Carolina. The organization has already sent outreach teams to the Ukrainian border and connected with other humanitarian efforts for those trying to escape.

The pieces submitted for the auction cover the gamut of the art world.

“We have everything from 3D pieces, sculptures, ceramics, functional ware, decorative art, two-dimensional pieces, drawings, paintings — just a wide variety that has been submitted,” Brejda said. “Part of our marketing plan over the next week is to showcase each of the artists that have submitted work to us on our social media platforms to let people know if you feel inclined to bid on their work, great; if not, at least give them a like and a share to support them somehow.”