Art for Aid to Launch at Ross
Art for Aid, a new project dedicated to creating art events that benefit charitable organizations and endeavors, will be launched on Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Ross School with a one-time show of work by contemporary artists. The evening will benefit five local food pantries and the Steven J. Ross Scholarship Fund.
Art for Aid is the brainchild of Wendy Wachtel, who opened Walk Tall Gallery in East Hampton in 2007 while at the same time working in international high-end real estate. “At the gallery, I started to combine the art world with different philanthropic groups to which I could give a portion of sales,” she said recently.
Ms. Wachtel, who lives on North Haven, closed Walk Tall after four years. For the past two and a half years she has been assistant director of Meals on Wheels in East Hampton.
While running the gallery, she worked with the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation’s annual Art for Life benefit on the East End, hosting related exhibitions as well as openings and after-parties. The foundation serves more than 3,000 students annually through its education programs.
Art for Aid will hold its second exhibition in July at the Bridgehampton Community House in connection with Art for Life, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Rush Philanthropic. The birthday party will include cake, music, mimosas, and the art of Danny Simmons and Rush artists.
The inaugural Art for Aid show will take place in the downstairs gallery of the school’s tennis pavilion. The artists — Shari Abramson, David Geiser, Mr. Simmons, and Walter Us — are all people Ms. Wachtel has worked with in the past.
“These artists are exceptional because all of their work, though aesthetically different from one another, is so deeply, emotionally charged,” she said. “Each of the 65 works that will be shown is moving and profound.” Chris Engel and Jennifer Cross, Ross faculty artists, will also participate. “These are all well-established artists; they don’t need to do this.” A large portion of sales will go directly to the charities.
Ms. Abramson, who lives in East Hampton, will exhibit abstract paintings. Mr. Geiser will show work from “Day Before Lascaux,” a series of works on parchment that evoke the early cave paintings. Mr. Us, a Sag Harbor artist, will be represented by landscapes. Mr. Simmons once called his style of painting “neo-African Abstract Expressionism.”
Looking ahead, in late summer or early fall, Art for Aid will hold a show and reception at the Children’s Museum of the East End that will benefit Head Start. “My ear is to the ground regarding the many charitable causes Art for Aid can champion. This is our community, and to keep it bountiful for some, it must be made bountiful for all,” said Ms. Wachtel.
Beneficiaries of the first Art for Aid show, in addition to the scholarship fund, are the Sag Harbor Community Food Pantry, the Southampton Food Pantry, the Living Water Food Pantry in Wainscott, the Bridgehampton Community Food Pantry, and the East Hampton Food Pantry.