MaJor OoPsie FoR Uc Berkeley

In what has to be one of the biggest blunders ever, it was revealed that UC Berkeley sold a work of art valued at $215,000 for the garage sale price of $150.00 back in 2009.

The artwork was acquired by the university after it took over the space it formerly occupied, The California School For The Blind. Before renovations on that building started, the piece was removed and stored in a warehouse for many years until its eventual sale. It turns out that the work of art had been mislabeled and that was why it made its way into the surplus sale, however, I have to wonder what the heck happened? We aren't talking about a little painting here or the bust of a prominent figure. No, we are talking about a TWENTY-TWO FOOT LONG PIECE OF CARVED REDWOOD!

That's right...22 FEET, intricately carved with nature images and done by renowned African-American artist, Sargent Johnson, the piece was obviously one that the blind students could enjoy when on display in its original home.

I've done some home improvement projects and have purchased a lot of wood over the years. No home improvement center, no lumberyard either, that I know of at least, would have sold you that amount of wood alone for $150, much less highly-coveted redwood, and especially not a huge chunk of redwood that was covered in carvings.

This is the stuff garage sale visitors and those who dig through dusty thrift shops dream of, though how the average bargain hunter would have managed to transport the piece is another issue entirely.

The Works Progress Administration, who had originally commissioned the piece, wants assurance from UC Berkeley that an incident like this will never happen again. I can't say that I blame them in the least.

And to think, I felt absolutely awful when I found I had accidentally sold an autographed copy of “Class with the Countess” (given to me personally by Real Housewife of New York's resident royalty, the Countess Luann De Lesseps) at my last garage sale. Okay, I wasn't exactly devastated, and autographed copies of that book sell for a few cents more than new, but still, I could completely relate!