300 Plates

Art Access is pausing our 300 Plates fundraiser for 2026

Since 2003, 300 Plates has brought together the Art Access community to make art more accessible. Hundreds of artists, plates, and art lovers have converged annually to create a special event that, in the past, has been a significant part of our fundraising efforts. But our current staff, board, and volunteer resources are not enough to put on this event this year.

Like most nonprofits and other organizations in both the arts and disability sectors, Art Access is working to adapt as the funding landscape changes. We are grateful to be working with Tim Fellow and his team at Ontic Partners and Union Creative Agency to provide invaluable assistance in reorganizing the financial management of Art Access and setting in motion a programming plan for a sustainable future.

Art Access continues our work to increase accessibility in the arts in Utah by working with the Utah Division of Arts and Museums to provide the Breaking Barriers accessibility training, Partners mentorship program, and upcoming gallery exhibits and events.

We will be making our first exciting announcement about how things are changing soon!

Many thanks to the generous artists and community partners who make our annual fundraiser possible, all in support of increased access to the arts for disabled Utah artists and patrons across abilities. 

2025 Sponsors

David L. & Kerry Ellen Carlson | Zvonek & Co. CPA | Marva Match | Anonymous Sponsor | Anonymous Sponsor | Johannah K. Hildebrand

The History of 300 Plates

by Joe Ostraff

The story of the 300 Plates Fundraiser begins in Thailand in the summer of 1993. My family and I were the invited guests of a family living in Cha-am, Thailand. As part of our weekly activities, we would visit one of the many Buddhist Wat (monasteries) found in almost every community. On one such visit, a monk approached me and gave me a packet of photos of King Rama V. He blessed me and promised that if I incorporated the images in my art I would bring about good fortune. I held on to the images for many years, waiting for an appropriate time to use them.
In fall of 1998, I was driving home from a field trip with BYU art students. John Ohran was among the group. He and I got into a discussion about art ideas and he shared his interest in a project that Ed Kienholz (an internationally acclaimed installation artist) had completed, numbering prints one through one thousand and selling them for the corresponding number. It seemed to me a critical statement on the commodification of art, and John and I wondered if we could give the idea a positive twist. 
During the conversation, I mentioned my Thai experience and one thing lead to another. Hence, John and I had a two-person exhibition at Art Access in 1999 entitled Restoration of Good Fortune: One Through Three Hundred and Fifty, with the prices matching the numbered art. Images of King Rama V as king, military leader, and father found their way into all the mixed media paintings on aluminum plates, and the sale proceeds were divided between Art Access and the Sudanese Refugee Fund. 
In 2002, Art Access was looking to diversify its funding base since the majority of the organization’s funds came from a single source. I was a board member at the time and suggested that we try a fundraiser using progressive pricing, and that we invite multiple artists to participate. It was very successful, and I feel that the Thai monk’s blessing continues to be realized each year through the 300 Plates fundraiser.