DORAL — Imagination will be on display during next week's "Art of Found Objects" charity auction at the Doral Golf Resort and Spa.

The 12th annual exhibit features artwork from students and teachers made from "found" objects, such as fabric, cardboard, telephone wire, cans or broken tile.
"You name it, they use it." said Linda Lecht, president of The Education Fund, a Miami nonprofit that is partnering with Ocean Bank to host the auction.

"It's really a wonderful sampling of work. Many of the items are very unusual."

Among the more creative items at a previous auction was a dragon made out of cans, Lecht said.

Materials used in the artwork come from the Ocean Bank Center for Educational Materials, an 11,000-square-foot warehouse in Miami where local businesses donate excess inventory and outdated equipment for Miami-Dade public school teachers who need resources.

Since opening in 1993, the distribution program has received about 15,000 visits from teachers and has in turn served more than 500,000 students.

"Our goal is to improve Miami-Dade's public education by providing the necessary resources for students and teachers," Lecht said.

For more than 20 years, The Education Fund has worked with businesses to direct resources where they are most needed in Miami-Dade schools. The fund's many initiatives have contributed $5.6 million in free classroom supplies, 10,000 computers to parents and students, and 1.2 million trilingual Parent Resource Guides.

Event publicist Suzan McDowell said the charity auction will feature 174 unique pieces of artwork, and all proceeds from the event will be donated to participating schools. Last year's event raised about $100,000 for visual arts programs, she said, adding that such programs are often the first to be cut from school budgets.

The art on display will be the work of 436 Miami-Dade elementary, middle and high-school students and teachers representing 33 schools, much of it from low-income students.

This year's auction will have environmental themes, such as solid waste and South Florida's ecosystem.

DaniellaAird@Gmail.com

IF YOU GO

What: The Education Fund's 12th Annual Charity Auction.

Where: Doral  Golf Resort & Spa, 4400 NW 87th Avenue, Doral.

When: Friday, May 29 at 7 p.m.

Cost: $75 per person

Contact: For more information or to purchase  tickets, please call 305-892-5099, ext. 23 or visit www.educationfund.org