Every spring – usually on or around the time of my birthday – I head to New York, to attend the 13th Annual Free Arts NYC Art Auction Benefit, on behalf of my family.

It’s a pretty incredible event, both for being able to support important art-mentoring programs for at-risk children, and also to view the fantastic art (and, budget-permitting, buy some).

For more than a decade, Amy Sacco and Mary-Alice Stephenson – joined last year by Amanda Ross – have co-Chaired this affair, curating auction items from such incredible artists as Ross Bleckner, Hunt Slonem, Richard Serra, Todd DiCiurcio, Julian Schnabel, and – oh yeah – me!  As a matter of fact, after last year’s event, the Wall Street Journal, in an article about that evening, mentioned only one piece, by name and description.  It was a collaborative painted photo entitled “Modern Day Femme Fatale” (wherein after styling a gorgeous photo of Sacco, taken by talented lensman David X. Prutting, en route to the afterparty for Free Arts 2009, wearing gorgeous Emerald earrings; and in a very film noire pose, blowing cigarette smoke in front of the door's neon "No Vacancy" sign; I had the image transferred onto oversized canvas, and proceded to embellish and paint the canvas with an array of nail polish and glitter.  It was purchased by a dealer who, in turn, sold it to Olivier Sarkozy (France's cosmopolitan "First Brother").

Anyhoo – this year’s event was jammed, and raised upwards of a half-million dollars to provide funding for Free Arts' important programming!  I was delighted to see friends and luminaries from New York’s various demimondes, including fashion (designers Monika Chang, Kalinka, Erin Fetherston, Cynthia Rowley, Bonnie Young, and Maggie Norris), photography (Sante D’Orazio, Billy Farrell, and Luca Babini), media (Spencer Wang - Managing Director and Head of US Media & Internet Equity Research, Credit Suisse; and John K. Martin - Chief Financial and Administrative Officer, Time Warner, Inc.); stage and screen (Blythe Danner, Ed Westwick, and Kelly Rutherford), music (Rasa Living goddess, Donna D’Cruz and her husband, Tommy Boy founder Tom Silverman, and the soulful John Legend with fiancé, swimwear supermodel Chrissy Teigen).

One of my favorite things about this affair is the old-fashioned Polaroid camera that is there to provide large-format portraits.  I’ve collected a few each year, and they line a wall in our house, chronologically, like some odd anthropological study of weight gain and jewelry acquisition.  This year, my darling Douglas Friedman was pushing the button, and had me in stitches.  There I am, a short, fat boy from the desert, in 80% humidity, in a room with far too little air-conditioning, sweating far too much for my liking (the Spanx/silk combo I was featuring did not “breathe” as much as I might have liked…).

Lead by the debonair star of the auction world, Alexander Gilkes, co-Founder of Paddle 8, the live auction was upbeat and exciting, and raised a lot of funds.  It was also the first time at any charity auction where the auctioneer held the room in such sway that when he asked for quiet, people came-to and shut-up.  And I say “Huzzah, Sir!  Well met!”  [Dear Camille and Larry Ruvo; THIS is your guy!]

But the night didn’t end there.  Come back next time for more about my recent trip to the Grand Apple!

Free Arts NYC
Annual Art Action Benefit 2012
Monday, April 23rd – New York

Get into it!