Win a 2009 MINI Cooper in National Museum Event: "Mini Raffle" for Car in Jackson Hole Western Visions Fundraiser

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo.--Continuing the “good things come in small packages” theme of its 22^nd Annual Miniatures and More Show & Sale, the National Museum of Wildlife Art is raffling a 2009 MINI Cooper, valued at $20,000. Proceeds from the “Mini Raffle” benefit programming for the Jackson Hole-based national museum, which follows a mission of connecting people with the natural world through fine art – and boasts such familiar names as Audubon, O’Keeffe, Picasso, Wyeth and even Rembrandt in its collection. Appropriately, the winner of the cute-as-a-button and easy-on-gas auto will be drawn and announced on Friday, September 18, 2009 during the Western Visions Miniatures and More Show & Sale, where original artwork by more than 150 leading artists – and including many pieces in the 9-by-12-inch or smaller “miniatures” category – will be on auction. Raffle ticket holders need not be present to win the MINI Cooper.

Tickets for the MINI Cooper raffle are $25 for one, $100 for five, and will be on sale until 8 p.m. on Friday, September 18. Tickets may be purchased at the museum or contact Jennifer Lee at 307-732-5412 to purchase by phone. Additional information about the raffle can be found on the museum’s website, www.wildlifeart.org. The MINI Cooper was first designed as a fuel-efficient people-mover in 1959 in the wake of a British oil crisis, and the popular high-style 2009 MINI Cooper hardtop builds on the design success of those first-generation models. Now produced under BMW’s direction, this 50^th-anniversary MINI Cooper is described as a “uniquely sporting blend of classic British mini-car heritage and charm combined with precise German engineering and construction underneath,” according to online auto information site Edmunds.com.

A member of Museums West and accredited by the American Association of Museums, the National Museum of Wildlife Art offers an exciting calendar of exhibitions from its permanent collection and changing exhibitions from around the globe and has been featured in media including the L.A. Times and The New York Times. A complete schedule of exhibitions and events is available online at www.wildlifeart.org.