Art and books have always gone well together. Objects of desire for collectors and all manner of creative and curious-minded; sparks of controversy for their potential power to topple oppressive cultural, religious, or political controls — too often, art and books are inaccessible to whole segments of society, especially kids. Dave Eggers and the rest of the volunteer army at the 826 organizations nationwide do their best to fix that, sponsoring youth literacy programs that do everything from supporting ESL to shepherding young authors through development and publication of their own work. And its outpost at 826LA is among the most art-friendly reading projects of them all, as tonight's Spread the Word auction of original art and unique artist books exuberantly demonstrates. A lot of the work is not only inspired by but takes the form of books, with favorites like Gary Baseman, Okay Mountain, Amir Fallah, Andrew Schoultz, Chad Person, Dani Tull, Devon Tsuno, Jay Erker, Kiel Johnson, Kimber Berry, Max Presneill, Sage Vaughn, and Travis Millard on the bill. Featuring works by 80 contemporary artists, tickets are just $25, and much of the art starts at under $100. And because music and cocktails go together at least as well as art and books, the event also features a live DJ set by Jason Bentley, plus craft beer and food trucks all night. Mark Moore Gallery, 5790 Washington Blvd, Culver City. Sat., Dec. 17, 7-10p.m. $25. 310-453-3031. spreadthewordmmg.eventbrite.com.

Sat., Dec. 17, 7-10 p.m., 2011

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.