By Jim Knippenberg
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A big benefaciary of Bats Incredible! is ArtWorks, which includes apprentices Martin Malone (left) and Andrea Larsgaard, teaching artist Jenny Ustick and apprentice Julia Davenport. | ZOOM |

And it's outta here, as they say in the broadcast booth.

Bats Incredible!, the eight-month public art project that decorated Cincinnati streets with 195 sculptures made from 11,000 Louisville Sluggers, wraps up with a 5:30 p.m. party and auction Thursday at Cincinnati Museum Center, Union Terminal.

Thirty-six works will be auctioned live. Another 72 will go in a silent auction, and 50 will be sold on eBay Friday through Nov. 17.

Some people already have targets selected, checkbooks primed and strategies planned. Sara Vance, proud owner of three Big Pig Gig pigs, has her eye on two bat pieces. "I like Tony Luensman's Battuta, the interactive one you drop marbles in. I have a spot in my rec room by the bar so we can play while we sip wine.

"And I collect wine, so I'm very interested in BatScrew, the one outside the Aronoff."

ArtWorks, the arts and education organization that sponsored Bats as well as 2000's Big Pig Gig and 2002's Flower Power, estimates that about 1 million people saw at least some of the bat sculptures.

"Between Tall Stacks, Oktoberfest, Taste of Cincinnati, normal downtown traffic and people making field trips, I'd say at least that many," says Tamara Harkavy, ArtWorks executive director.

Now it's time to get them off the streets. That's where the auction - which benefits 110 charities - enters the picture. Harkavy is expecting at least 1,000 people Thursday.

IF YOU GO

What: The Bats Incredible! auction of 108 of 195 sculptures. When: 5:30-10:30 p.m. Thursday Where: Cincinnati Museum Center, Union Terminal Cost: Home Plate tickets are $75 (two drink tickets, dinner, commemorative ID tag, All-Star Auction Batalog, bidding number and reserved seating at the live auction); Batter's Box tickets are $25 (one drink ticket, dinner, commemorative ID tag andbidding number). Tickets at www.batsincredible.com, 333-0388 or the door.

"We'll start with cocktails - people bid higher after a few drinks - and dinner from 5:30 to about 6:30, then get the auction going," Harkavy says.

Jay Karp, manic, frantic and hugely sarcastic when guests don't bid high enough to suit him, will conduct the auction, just as he did at the Pig auction. That one made $401,500 (the online component made another $437,500).

"I can't even guess what this will make, but some of pieces are so cool. Just look at this one," Karp says, pointing to a picture of Denny Mitchell's Just for the Heel of It. "I fully expect to hit $10,000 on several pieces."

Karp, of downtown's Main Auction Galleries, should know. He does about 30 charity auctions a year voluntarily.

Bidding for most pieces at the live auction will start at $1,000; three will start at $500 and one, the BatMobile customized pickup truck with the giant Mr. Red bobblehead, will start at $5,000. Rumblings have it that American Financial or one of its subsidiaries will buy it for the Reds, but Sandy Heimann, AFC spokeswoman and one of three Bats co-chairs, won't comment.

"There are several that I have my eye on and yes, I definitely will bid on them," she says. "I have places in my yard where they'd look wonderful."

Yeah? Which ones? "What? And drive the prices sky high? Just wait until the auction. I want to see the prices go sky high on the ones I'm not bidding for, not the ones I'm after."

Buyers who spring for a work can deduct a portion of the payment because of the charity component - 25 percent goes to ArtWorks, 25 percent to the Cincinnati Reds Community Fund, 50 percent to the charity of the sponsor's choice.

The percentage a buyer can deduct varies, Harkavy says. "That's something that's between the buyers and their accountants. It's all tied up in a complex formula they call fair market value."

If the buzz they're hearing at ArtWorks headquarters is an indication, look for Grand Sam, Big Red Machine, Pete's Rose, Johnny's Bench, Just for the Heel of It, Batzilla, Fly Ball and Bat Mobile - the giant bat - and BatMobile - the pickup truck - to command top dollar.

E-mail jknippenberg@enquirer.com