From the South Orange Performing Arts Center
On May 1, The Herb + Milly Iris Gallery at SOPAC in collaboration with Good Crowd Events and Fire in the Belly Art Making will host Art for Ukraine.
On Sunday, May 1 from 1-4PM in the SOPAC lobby, The Herb + Milly Iris Gallery at SOPAC in collaboration with Good Crowd Events and Fire in the Belly Art Making will host Art for Ukraine, a pop-up art sale fundraiser. All proceeds will be donated to Razom, an organization responding to the crisis in Ukraine.
Jeremy Moss, curator for The Herb + Milly Iris Gallery at SOPAC and co-owner of Good Crowd Events with Cat Delett, along with Barbara Bickart of Fire in the Belly Art Making hatched the idea for Art for Ukraine.
“There are a lot of people in the art world who wanted to do something to help Ukraine but didn’t know what,” says Moss. “As artists, you feel better when you don’t just give money. You want to make something, you want to do something that’s meaningful.”
As Bickart put it, “the easiest way for artists to get involved and get engaged and show support is by doing the thing that they do best.”
Nearly 50 artists and student artists have donated their art to support this effort.
“I could read you the Facebook messages and emails from the artists,” says Moss, “they’re all thanking us for giving them the opportunity to help.”
One participating artist on Instagram said, “these past few weeks as the war in Ukraine drags on I have felt sad, ashamed, and deeply disappointed to be Russian. Realistically there is not much I can do to help fix this situation. Putin has been in power since I was 6 years old. I am 30 now. Still, it is good to be able to contribute to help Ukraine, even in this small way.”
The breadth of the donated work ranges from ceramics to jewelry and textiles, in addition to two-dimensional art.
Moved by the opportunity to help, SOPAC employees are getting in on the action, too. SOPAC’s Development Manager Katelyn Fatzler, as well as Moss, are both making pieces for the sale.
The full price of each piece will be donated to Razom, an organization that was born out of the Revolution of Dignity in 2014. In 2021, Razom was a recipient of the Guidestar Gold Transparency Award, the highest award given to non-profit organizations regarding overall accountability. Razom means “together” in Ukrainian.
Full list of participating artists:
Aida Jones
Alison Oxman
Amanda Boulton
Amanda Burns-Elhassouni
Avril Bogle
Barbara Bickart
Barbara Hansell
Cat Delett
Cathleen McCoy Bristol
Chris Mori
Christine Petty
Colleen Lineberry
Cora Engel
DARKRECONSTRUCTION Art
Darkreconstruction S Ivanova
Dawn DiCicco
Elisabeth Antoine
Elle Views
Erin Pickering
Fred Zorn
Harvey Rogosin
J Steven Patton
Jennifer Crohn
Jennifer Malone
Jeremy Moss
Joanna Madloch
John DiLorenzo
Karen Leo
Katelyn Fatzler
Kelly Beyer
Lauren Weinstein
Lisa Lackey
LIsa Naples
Lyman Dally
Manahi Taber-Kewene
Manman Huang
Marina Carreira
Mary Jean Canziani
Rachel Pruzan
Raymond Saa
Richard Janow
Rosemary Cenatiempo
Samuel Taber-Kewene
Sarah Klein
Sumana Ghosh-Witherspoon
Susan Adler
Susan Darwin
Thea Kearney
Vivienne Schuppe
###
About The Herb + Milly Iris Gallery:
The gallery was initiated by beloved SOPAC board member, Milly Iris. Both Milly and her husband Herb were longtime supporters of SOPAC, avid collectors and devoted arts advocates. The family legacy continues through the generous support of Herb and Milly’s daughters, Roreé and Kerry and The Iris Family Foundation. The gallery is located on the second and third floors of the South Orange Performing Arts Center. The Gallery is free and open from Monday-Saturday, noon– 6PM.
