Central Florida's oldest artist collective is marking 40 years the same way it pays its bills every year: with a fast-moving art sale where nothing costs more than $200. McRae Art Studios' 22 member artists in Orlando's Parramore neighborhood will throw open their studio doors this Saturday for the 10th annual "8x10" sale, the collective's only fundraiser of the year, with every piece on offer measuring no larger than 10 inches.
Preview browsing starts at 6:30 p.m., with active shopping beginning at 7 p.m. and bidding closing at 7:45 p.m. at the studio's home on 1000 Arlington St., according to Orlando Sentinel. Bidding on each piece starts at $100 and climbs in $25 increments, but nobody has to wait it out — patrons can also just pay the $200 buy-it-now price on the spot, settling up with card, check or cash. This is the first 8x10 sale held since McRae completed its transition to 501(c)(3) nonprofit status, and proceeds are earmarked for the studio's operational costs, the funding that keeps rents affordable for its member artists.
Bidding Opens at $100, Capped at $200 a Piece
More than 220 paintings, drawings, prints, mixed-media works, photographs, sculptures and ceramics will be up for grabs, per the same report. Guests can enter a free raffle for a $200 buy-it-now gift certificate, and anyone who brings a first-time visitor earns a bonus raffle entry. Flamingo Framing will be selling pre-made 8x10 frames on site for anyone who wants to walk out with a finished piece, and the event itself is free and open to the public, though visitors must be 21 or older to drink from the donation bar.
A Road Trip to Virginia Sparked a Shared-Studio Idea
That financial model sits on top of a history stretching back nearly four decades. Artists George and Marty Whipple founded McRae Art Studios in Orlando in 1987 after visiting the Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Virginia, and deciding Central Florida needed its own version of that affordable, shared-studio setup, according to The Community Paper. The collective took its name from that original home, a warehouse on McRae Avenue near Florida Hospital, as Bungalower has reported, and it has since relocated four times between Orlando and Winter Park.
The longest of those stops was in Winter Park, where the collective spent nearly 18 years inside a warehouse on Railroad Avenue. Commercial redevelopment near U.S. Highway 17-92 pushed the artists out in late 2016, according to Winter Park Magazine, though McRae's own account of its history places the group's return to Orlando in 2017.
Priced Out of Winter Park, the Collective Rebuilt in Parramore
McRae eventually settled into its current home at 1000 Arlington St., a 10,000-square-foot former auto-body and machine shop that design-build firm Interstruct converted into light-filled individual studios for more than 20 artists, plus classroom space. The building is shared with ArtReach Orlando, a nonprofit that brings visual arts education to underserved youth, whose students interact directly with McRae's professional artists through studio tours and workshops. The complex's exterior also carries the Arlington Arts Mural Project, where local youth worked alongside muralist Maureen Hudas and emerging Black artists on a community mural that comes to life in 3D animation through Snap! Orlando's CITY UNSEEN app, according to ArtReach Orlando.
Shared Building Doubles as a Classroom for Local Youth
Getting a studio inside that building isn't automatic — joining as a member artist requires passing a competitive juried selection process whenever space opens up, per Bungalower. The collective also mentors emerging artists, holding student art exhibition showcases with Edgewater High School where member artists sit on review panels and critique student work, as The Community Paper has separately reported. McRae fits a broader pattern of adaptive reuse in Orlando's arts scene alongside Faith Arts Village of Orlando, known as FAVO, which converted a former hotel into studio spaces in 2011. During last year's 8x10 sale, in August 2024, collectors bought more than 230 paintings and ceramic pieces from 23 member artists within a single hour of bidding, per the same outlet's coverage at the time.
Artists Say the Low Prices Build Collectors, Not Just Sales
Featured artist Kate Carney said the format lets member artists see the evolution and differing styles in one another's work over the years, and that the accessible pricing helps newcomers afford original art while drawing in younger collectors, per the newspaper's account. The sale gives casual buyers a rare entry point into a collective that otherwise sells through full open-studio events and juried shows.
McRae Art Studios president Mimi Hwang said in a news release tied to the sale that reaching 501(c)(3) nonprofit status is an important step toward creating a lasting cultural resource that supports artists and engages the public. The designation applies to a McRae fundraiser for the first time this Saturday, as the collective works to keep its Parramore studios sustainable amid the kind of commercial pressure that pushed it out of Winter Park a decade earlier.
