CLEVELAND – Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital at University Hospitals Case Medical Center is teaming up with Alta House to offer music fans the opportunity to purchase an original glass sculpture – a hand-blown violin signed by famous musician Itzhak Perlman and artist Slate Grove. The glass violin will officially be available for on-line auction Wednesday, November 1st through Friday, November 10th, at www.ridetherainbow.org*.

At an Itzhak Perlman benefit concert presented by the Alta House in May 2005, Grove paid tribute to Perlman with one of the two original glass violins he crafted. The second violin was autographed by Perlman and donated back to Alta House with the intent of auctioning it off this fall.

“Slate’s work is phenomenal,” said Mary Slattery, director of operations for Alta House. “This violin was a very generous gift, and we want to use it to give back to the community in the best way possible. By partnering with our neighbor, Rainbow, we are able to share this gift with many members of our community and use it to generate funds that will not only allow us to continue our work, but to also help Rainbow take the best care of our community’s children.”

Alta House is working in tandem with the Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital “Ride the Rainbow Gala” committee.

The Ride the Rainbow Gala is a biennial event celebrating the achievements of Rainbow and serves as its largest fundraising event. Held for the first time in 2004, Ride the Rainbow raised more than $400,000 to benefit the Center for Survivors of Childhood Cancer--a newly established program at Rainbow that was made possible by a grant from the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

The 2006 Ride the Rainbow Gala presented by National City will be held on Saturday, November 11, 2006 at the Great Lakes Science Center. The theme of this year's gala is "Ride the Rainbow to a Brighter Future.”

“The violin is a premiere item in our auction this year,” said Jeanne Michaelides, auction co-chair for Ride the Rainbow. “It is the only item we are putting up for on-line bidding and is one of the most exclusive items we are offering. The winner of the violin will be announced at our event in November.”

The proceeds generated from the violin will be split between Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and Alta House.

The Ride the Rainbow Gala auction will feature numerous silent auction packages and a handful of select live auction items. In keeping with the theme of light, lamps-turned-work-of-art by local artists will also be raffled off. Proceeds from the 2006 Ride the Rainbow Gala will benefit three of Rainbow’s brightest areas of excellence: Neonatology, the Children’s Heart Center and the Children’s Cancer Center.

Alta House will use their portion of the proceeds to continue in its mission as a non-profit multi-service community center that provides social, educational, recreational and human services and is a forum for advocacy and dialogue to enhance the quality of life for community members.