Online Panda Auction Begins

WASHINGTON - If you liked those panda sculptures on the sidewalks of Washington, imagine how great one would look in your living room.

Ninety full-sized and miniature versions of the PandaMania sculptures went on sale Monday via an online auction. The winning bids will be selected by Oct. 16.

There is also a chance to bid ahead of a live auction on Oct. 9. Auction representatives will take the highest of those offers, then bid on behalf of the online customers, up to their maximum amount. Forty-one full-sized and 12 minis will be sold that way.

"We've had people from across the country calling us for weeks to get details on the online auction," said Dorothy McSweeny, chair of the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

The commission expects some of the pandas could sell for $10,000 or more, with the money going toward arts programs in the city.

The pandas were designed by artists selected after submitting designs representing various themes. They spent the summer on sidewalks all across the city, where some were vandalized and one was stolen.

The sculptures were collected last week and moved to displays at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel - where the live auction will be held - and at American University.

(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)