Most Wanted Fine Art’s Nina Sauer and Caitlin Northup have worked together on previous silent art auction projects, but last year’s silent auction was miniscule compared to this one. In fact, they are certain that this is the biggest one yet.

“I’m really excited. Hopefully it will get bigger and bigger, help more people and grow every year,” said Northup, the creative director of Penn Avenue Eyewear.

On Sept. 12, Most Wanted Art Gallery and Penn Avenue Eyewear held their second annual Artistic Vision Exhibit and silent auction at the former Quiet Storm restaurant in Garfield. There were art pieces from 32 different artists on sale from the silent auction, including 15 pairs of custom handmade wooden sunglass frames.

Ten items were sold in the silent auction and numerous others were bought before the auction commenced.

“This event is just looking to build community, and getting opportunities to provide resources and funding towards a good cause. So it’s a win-win for everyone,” said D.S. Kinsel, one of the artists auctioning their work to the people.

The proceeds were split between the artists and the two charities: The Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation that is working on redeveloping the communities of Bloomfield, Garfield, and Friendship neighborhoods and Healthy Artists, a corporation that fights to fix the broken health system and support the artists that are affected.

It showcased artwork like Kinsel’s painting called “Eye” and encompassed the great talent of all of the artists and performers. The mood of the room was upbeat, loud and very welcoming.

The event was hosted by comedian Davon Magwood, who performed a comical set that night with his opinions ranging from the Ray Rice scandal, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Floyd Mayweather’s reading level.

“I’m hosting and performing, but nobody wants anything I touch with paint. They’ll ask ‘Did a child do this?’” Magwood joked.  “I did everyone a favor by not painting anything.”

Anqwenique Wingfield and pianist Joe Sheehan, who are two parts of the six piece band Kinetic, covered a variety of songs and debuted two original songs, “Show Me” and “World of Wonder” from the band’s self titled debut album due to be released in late November.

Wingfield, classical singer who wears glasses, explained the importance of vision in music.

“It’s important in the writing process, but your sight helps you connect with everything around you. Whether it’s reading music from a lyrics stand or trying to connect with my audience, [it] makes my glasses crucial” Wingfield said.

The artists who contributed work also received a free pair of prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses from the online eyewear store.

“This is special because we were able to commission some works of art, and give back something [the artists] really needed,” Northup said.

Artists typically work non-traditional, freelance jobs that do not give healthcare benefits, leaving them to fend for themselves.

Julie Sokolow, the head artist at Healthy Artists, has seen some people who have struggled to find care. It is not just painters struggling; it is musicians, comedians, and actors who are also having trouble.

“I go into their homes and interview them about being un-insured because they lack access to health care because [the United States] is the only industrialized nation that doesn’t have universal healthcare it’s a very bad situation,” Sokolow said.

A common theme of the night was the importance of vision to all forms of art, whether it was painting or other forms. At least 100 people attended the event at the spacious former restaurant.

Jason Sauer is the owner of Most Wanted Art Gallery, one of the coordinators of the event, and a visual artist himself, believes art is having forethought to the future.

“It’s the key to the job of an artist. Their job is to foreshadow the future and describe solutions, because if there are questions, then there’s a problem. It’s the artist’s role to realize the questions, problems and solutions,” Sauer said.

Rich Jackley, who co-coordinated the event, believes the visual arts are essential for vision.

“You have to see what you are doing because without your sight, you cannot create effective art,” Jackley said.

Zena Ruiz is a printmaker, who put her work “Oh Mother, Oh Father” up for auction, believes vision is important to her sculptures and printmaking.

“Being an artist you rely a lot on color, and not having vision puts you in a two dimensional world when you’re supposed to be in a three dimensional world,” Ruiz said.

But she still believes artists would be able to work.

“Maybe we would be making more powerful work, about the loss of vision,” Ruiz said.

Sue Kerr is a blogger at Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents and believes vision in blogging is having a big picture view on things.

“Vision should encompass the forest and the trees, so you need to pay attention to the details and make sure you’re looking at the whole landscape as well. One of the reasons why my blog is political is because…being a lesbian in society is political. It requires a lot of consciousness to topics,” Kerr said.

There are a lot of common perceptions on people who wear glasses..

Joe Wos, a cartoonist and a self-described ‘geek’ who created a 3D monster sculpture believes ‘geek’ is in.

“Everybody wants to be a geek nowadays.. I see all types…who run around with glasses as a fashion statement, and it’s very funny that geek is chic,” Wos said.

Holly Hood who is a hip-hop artist and teacher at The Art Institute echoed Wos’s statement.

“People now wear glasses because it’s cool and trendy. A lot of people wear glasses that don’t need them because it’s makes them a’ hipster’,” Hood said.

The event raised awareness on eye health for the other artists like Dante Lombardi, who does not wear eye glasses.

“I didn’t realize exactly how much glasses cost and what a pain it is when they break.. It brought a lot into focus for me,” Lombardi said.

Ricardo Iammuri, a former film and journalism major from the University, debuted his silent film “Mars is Underwater” with a live score performance from himself.

“I wanted to add another element [to art and film]. We’re living in a time that’s very audio and visual amongst social networking, so you should put everything into it,” Iammuri said.

The people who attended the gallery were very socially conscious and are artists in many different ways.

Vision is needed to succeed as an artist, musician, comedian, blogger and many other forms of work.