Pitchfork

Buckman Elementary School, an arts magnet school in Portland's public system, is rife with the cool, artsy kids. And these cool, artsy kids-- along with some high-profile, indie rock favorites-- have donated some items to be auctioned in benefit of the school; they're no mere pinch-pot ashtray castoffs, either.

In addition to a fly-fishing trip and jaunts to the Sonoma wine country, a series of hand-decorated mini-guitars and other swag from the likes of the Decemberists and Carson Ellis, Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock, the Shins, Stephen Malkmus and newest Jick Janet Weiss, Sam Coombs of Quasi, and the Dandy Warhols will go up for the good cause. UPDATE: STEPHEN MALKMUS DID NOT DESIGN THE GUITAR, JUST JANET WEISS. IT'S PRETTY SWEET! CHECK OUT THE PHOTO BELOW!

The Art Rocks auction takes place in two parts: the first-- organized by Sleater-Kinney pillar and Buckman parent Corin Tucker-- goes down web-ways April 22, when online bidders can stake their claim on those hand-decorated mini-guitars via eBay (keyword: Buckman). UPDATE: DUE TO AN EBAY GLITCH, THE ONLINE AUCTION START DATE HAS BEEN BUMPED TO MAY 13.

The second part, an actual live auction which we hope includes a motor-mouthed auctioneer, occurs April 27 at Portland's Melody Ballroom. There you can score vacation getaways, arts and crafts from kids and local artisans, a signed Bon Jovi guitar, and the prize to end all prizes: a set of maracas actually used by the Dandy Warhols. We kid you not. Alas, no portion of the proceedings is dedicated to a "date auction"; you'll just have to get Isaac drunk and try to make out with him on your own time. It can't be that hard, really.

Janet Weiss hand-decorated mini-guitar: