The Journal Gazette, 600 W. Main St., Fort Wayne IN

The practice of bringing home souvenirs from trips is ageless.

Everybody does it, even Ian Rolland, former CEO of Lincoln National Life Insurance Co., and his wife, Mimi. But they don’t bring home miniature silver spoons, snow globes and slices of log reading, “I’ve been to Mammoth Cave.”

They collect art, some higher-end, some lower-end, whatever appeals to them. It comes from Utah and New York, Arizona and Paris, England and Africa – even Fort Wayne.

That shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Rollands have long been strong supporters of the arts community in Fort Wayne.

In time, in their travels, the Rollands accumulated quite a collection – glass, bronzes, pottery, clays, oils, watercolors, even some pieces of furniture, enough to fill a gallery.

It was an eclectic mix, as Mimi Rolland put it. And the Rollands, who had lived in Aboite Township, had enough room to accommodate it.

But Mimi and Ian, who retired a few years ago, decided to downsize, moving into a smaller home in Fort Wayne, one that couldn’t hold the collection of art they had amassed during their travels.

So on Sept. 11, they’ll be selling a big chunk of their collection, 120 pieces, in an auction at Grand Wayne Center. The Rollands, though, are calling it a bash.

The proceeds, by the way, will go to the East Wayne Street Center, an inner-city organization the Rollands helped establish 42 years ago. It will be the major fundraiser of the year for the center.

The event, which starts at 5:30 p.m., will charge an admission fee – $40 for an individual and $75 for a couple – mainly to pay for the event itself. There will be food and a cash bar. Pieces of art will serve as centerpieces.

“We want to make it a fun evening,” Mimi Rolland said, so people who don’t have the money to be buying art can still attend and have a good time.

There will also be some raffles, “So people can spend maybe $10 or $20 for a ticket and maybe end up with a piece of art,” Ian Rolland said. “It’s not just for people who can afford expensive art.”

For people who do buy something, a catalog has been prepared showing the estimated value of items. That way, if the bid goes over that value, the buyer will be able to claim a tax deduction for a contribution to a non-profit organization.

“It’s going to be fun,” said Joe Jordan, who runs the East Wayne Street Center. “If you know Mimi, anything she’s associated with is going to be a fun event.”

At the heart of it all, of course, isn’t just art but the East Wayne Street Center, which was founded as a place for people to gather, a place for people who need help and eventually became home to the Head Start program.

Ian Rolland’s name is on the board of directors. Some people might think that’s just for show, Jordan said.

But it’s a lot more than show. The Rollands, Jordan says, “have been an integral part of the center since its inception.”

Even today, Jordan says, Ian Rolland is the organization’s treasurer.

“It’s amazing to have people like the Rollands, who are so busy, and to have them still put the center first … to have a man of that status support the center, not just with a check but in its day-to-day activities.”