FREE ARTS NYC 18TH ANNUAL ART AUCTION
That’s a wrap on Free Arts NYC’s 18th Annual Art Auction honoring Taryn Simon! The night was a beautiful and timely reminder of the transformative power of art and the critical programs Free Arts provides for thousands of New York City’s underserved children.
The evening would not have been possible without our presenting sponsor, Marni, whose exquisite clothes were worn by many notable guests, including Maggie Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum, Zoe Buckman and Cleo Wade. The Shulman Family Foundation showed their deep commitment to Free Arts by sponsoring the evening, as they have been for over a decade, along with Perrier-Jouët and The Cultivist.
The party echoed to the sounds of Onyx Collective while guests enjoyed food from Casa Lever and Sant Ambroeus, champagne from the iconic Perrier-Jouët, vino from Skurnik Wines, brews from Peroni and cocktails from Tequila Avion and Tito’s Vodka paired with Morris Kitchen mixers. Celebrated illustrator Justin Teodoro created custom portraits of attendees sitting in bespoke
Jessica Lichtenstein chairs.
A special part of our evening was our teens walking guests through the debut exhibition of their Picture-Collection-inspired project with Taryn. Teens Adonai and Raven gave heartfelt speeches that were a powerful testament to the impact of access to arts education, and presented Taryn with her award.
We closed the evening with a star studded art auction which included works from Christopher Wool and Cecily Brown, and studio visits with Rashid Johnson and Marilyn Minter. None of this would have been possible without the instrumental support of our sponsors Crozier Fine Arts and Downing Frames.
EVENT PHOTOS
PICTURE COLLECTION PROJECT
In April 2017, Taryn Simon conducted workshops with 12 teens from Free Arts NYC’s Portfolio Mentorship, Creative Career Exploration, and Museum and Studio Visit Program. Participating teens created their very own body of work inspired by Simon’s original
Picture Collection.
The first component of the project was a tour of Simon’s studio. The teens learned about Simon’s inspirations, her process, and details about The Picture Collection project. Collaboratively, and with guidance from Simon, the teens began their own Picture Collection project drawing on their own unique life experiences and influences.
Each student chose a term and began the process of selecting images to assemble their own visual library.
The 18 terms chosen collectively were: Empowerment, Culture, Addiction, Mental disorder, Admiration, Expressions, Androgyny, Terms, Ignorance, Memes, Tranquility, Equality, Beauty, Confidence, Ownership, America, Balance, Supercalifragilisticexpialidoc
Later, Simon met with the students to view and discuss their work at The New York Public Library’s original Picture Collection Library. Billy Parrott, Associate Director of The New York Public Library, joined Simon and the teens to give a special historical overview of The Picture Collection.
TEEN ARTS PROGRAM
The Teen Arts Program (TAP) develops essential career skills within underserved teens, ranging in age from 13 to 19, who share an interest in exploring the arts academically and/or professionally, but lack the resources needed to pursue an arts education or career in the creative industry.
TAP participants are diverse, low-income teens, living in high-risk areas of the Bronx and Manhattan that struggle daily with economic and educational disadvantages. Their communities lack the mentors, arts educators, and dedicated spaces to support youth interested in the arts. As a result, creative disciplines like visual art, with its associated materials costs, are particularly inaccessible.
ARTISTS
Thank you to our contributing artists, for generosity that is equal to their talent
Andisheh Avini
Gina Beavers
Jean-Baptiste Bernadet
Cecily Brown
Larry Clark
Petra Collins
Ann Craven
Martin Creed
John Currin
Todd DiCiurcio
Tara Donovan
Gardar Eide Einarsson
Freeman & Lowe
The Haas Brothers
Eric Haze
Carmen Herrera
Stephanie Hirsch
Sheree Hovsepian
Debby Hymowitz
Matthew Day Jackson
Rashid Johnson
Karen Kilimnik
Jemima Kirke
Elisabeth Kley
Esmeralda Kosmatopoulos
Shio Kusaka
Pryce Lee
Tali Lennox
Tony Lewis
Robert Longo
M aka Michael Chow
Robert Mapplethorpe
Andrea Mary Marshall
Ryan McGinness
Elizabeth McIntosh
Sam McKinniss
Josephine Meckseper
The Estate of Joel Mesler
Landon Metz
Marilyn Minter
Mia Moretti
James Nares
Jean Pigozzi
Jennifer Rubell
Sterling Ruby
Ed Ruscha
Andre Saraiva
Julian Schnabel
Richard Serra
Taryn Simon
Josh Smith
Bosco Sodi
Kasper Sonne
Sarah Sze
Claire Tabouret
Rirkrit Tiravanija
The Philippe Vandenberg Estate
Cleo Wade & Kate Greer
Lawrence Weiner
Jonas Wood
Christopher Wool
Rob Wynne
Dustin Yellin
COMMITTEE
Thank you to our Benefit Committee for being a part of an amazing night that will truly make a difference
Waris Ahluwalia
Almine Rech Gallery
Sarah Arison
Benjamin Bashein & Christian Langbein
Francesca Bodini & Zack Sherman
Kate Bolduan & Michael Gershenson
The Brant Foundation
Susan Cappa
Grace Cha
Alexandra Chemla
Pippa Cohen
The Cultivist
Rafael de Cardenas
Delphine de Causans
Laura de Gunzburg
Nathalie de Gunzburg
John Demsey
Mary Gail Doerhoefer
Casey Fremont
Gagosian Gallery
Thelma Golden
Loic Gouzer
Christine & Sandy Heller
Michelle Hellman Cohen & Adam Cohen
Sarah Hoover
Simon Hornby
Sheree Hovesepian & Rashid Johnson
Anne Huntington
Marissa Jartcky & Alex Marshall
Stephanie LaCava
Chriswell Langhorne
Fran Lebovitz
Rachelle & Sean MacPherson
Victoria Major Gore & Ben Gore
Maria Giulia Maramotti
Elizabeth Margulies
Gina Nanni & Glenn O’Brien
Claire and Michael Olshan
Amy & John Phelan
Polina Proshkina
Sukanya Rajaratnam
Doreen Remen
Kelly Rutherford
David Schrader
Cindy Sherman
Suzanne Siano
Nadja Swarovski
Elizabeth Swofford
Lindsay & Matthew Taylor
BJ Topol & Jon Blum
Inez & Vinoodh van Lamsweerde
Marlies Verhoeven Reijtenbagh & Jacco Reijtenbagh
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Kate Bolduan
Anchor, CNN
Daniel Ehrmann
King Street Capital Management, L.P.
Garrett Fail
Partner, Business Finance & Restructuring, Weil, Gotshal & Manges
Daniel Levine
Managing Partner, Tenfore Holdings
Jon Meyers
David Mielke
Partner, PwC Transactions Services
Linda Schaps
Ma, MSW
Richard Schaps
CEO, Van Wagner Communications
Leslie Slover
Managing Director, Regional Head of Jacksonville and Cary, Deutsche Bank
Trina Storfer
Co-Founder, Orchard Street Ventures
Carol Suchman
Lindsay Taylor
Taylor Art Advisory
Matthew B. Taylor
Managing Partner, Kortright Capital Partners LP
Marlies Verhoeven Reijtenbagh
CEO and Co-Founder, The Cultivist
Jordan C. Zaken
Founder and CO-CIO, Gamut Capital
Founding Executive Director, Free Arts NYC
Michelle Hellman Cohen & Adam Cohen
Art Advisory Board
MISSION
Copyright Free Arts NYC 2016