photo by: Contributed, Ann Dean Photography

Van Go's Dinner on the Curve fundraiser from 2024. The Lawrence arts nonprofit announced it will hold its annual dinner and auction fundraiser on Oct. 18, 2025.

Lawrence arts-based social service nonprofit Van Go’s annual dinner and auction fundraiser is next month, and the nonprofit’s leader says the community’s support will be even more important than usual this year.

Van Go will host Dinner on the Curve from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, at its 715 New Jersey St. facility. A news release from the nonprofit said that the dinner will be catered by Merchants Pub & Plate and there will be a cocktail hour by Henry’s Upstairs. There will be two auctions: a silent auction featuring both art and “unique experiences,” and a live auction that will include a variety of works by local professional artists and household goods crafted by young people in Van Go’s apprentice artist programs.

Lori McSorley, Van Go’s executive director, told the Journal-World via email that the annual fundraiser typically brings in around 10% of the nonprofit’s budget. Last year, it brought in over $150,000, and McSorley hopes this year the nonprofit can raise over $165,000, in part because grants and federal funding are more precarious at the moment.

“We are leaning on our donors and community to help us continue our mission,” McSorley said. “Our community helped build this program, and we need our community now more than ever to keep it going strong.”

McSorley said that while the art aspect of Van Go is often more visible to the public, “job creation is really (Van Go’s) specialty.” The programs that Van Go offers help teens and young adults in difficult circumstances learn “financial literacy, communication and other workplace skills,” McSorley said.

Tickets for Dinner on the Curve cost $225 per person and can be purchased on Van Go’s website.