Posted on April 2, 2012 By Maria Fregoso In November, nearly 900 New Yorkers gathered at Skylight Soho for the Coalition’s 17th annual ARTWALK NY. Co-chaired by Alec Baldwin, Richard Gere and Carey Lowell, with honorary chair, Coco Rocha, the live and silent art auction was our most successful ever, raising over $880,000. The event featured Shepard Fairey, who introduced the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation’s inaugural “Artist as Activist” print project to commemorate Rauschenberg’s dedication to important social issues and the mission of the Coalition for the Homeless. As part of this special project, Fairey created an original print, The Future is Unwritten, which was sold on artnet to benefit the Coalition. Live auction bidders vied to win works by Andy Warhol, Kim McCarty, Ed Ruscha, Thomas Hirschhorn, Shepard Fairey, Jenny Holzer, Leonard Rosenfeld, Wade Guyton and Invader, while the silent auction featured works by over 100 artists, including Roxy Paine, Mary Heilmann, Kenny Scharf, Hernan Bas, Olaf Breuning and Yoko Ono. The evening was topped off by DJ Donna D’Cruz and DJ ADD; restaurant tasting stations from Macao, Michael’s and Edi & the Wolf; and complimentary beverages by Star Vodka, Beck’s, Sud de France and the Odeon. Thanks to the enthusiasm and generosity of this year’s ARTWALK patrons, almost one million dollars will go towards ensuring that the Coalition can continue offering a safety net to more than 3,500 homeless men, women and children every day. We are truly grateful to the many artists, committee members, and sponsors that helped make the 17th annual ARTWALK NY possible. Published in Safety Net, Spring 2012
