This week the Arts council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County will host a special grand opening. It's an exhibition of artwork from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company collection at the Womble Carlyle Gallery in the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts. The event will also begin the online auction of a wide range of art works from traditional oils, watercolors, ceramics and textiles to hand-crafted dulcimers and chess sets. Many of the works are by local and North Carolina artists, including Claude Howell, Maud Gatewood, Elsie Popkin, Edd Presness and Catherine Ryan.

According to Director of Major Gifts Catherine Heitz-New, The Reynolds art collection spans 100 years during which time the company amassed over 3,000 works of art. The enormous size of the collection eventually made displaying the works impossible, and the Arts Council was able to step in and fill that void.

The exhibition of artwork from the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company collection begins from 5-7:00pm on Thursday, August 11, and coincides with an on-line auction for the artwork which concludes September 24. It is free and open to the public, and proceeds from the auction and subsequent art sales will benefit the Arts Council. The bulk of the collection will be sold in a public sale in February.

Catherine Heitz-New spoke with WFDD's David Ford.