October’s WellChild Art Auction, supported by Christie’s, is the charity’s flagship fundraising event for the year.
Curated by Chris Westbrook, this year’s collection, which will be sold online until 29 October, features more than 30 works by some of the world’s top contemporary artists, including Anish Kapoor, David Yarrow, Antony Gormley and Loughran Gallery favourite Dave White. White will be donating two works – hand-finished diamond dust editions of ‘Hope’ and ‘Love’.
When Covid-19 struck, WellChild lost 60% of its forecasted income. The works sold will raise money for essential funds to help WellChild to continue to support children, young people and those that care for them at a time when the most isolated and vulnerable families in the country need them more than ever before.
Colin Dyer, WellChild chief executive, says: “Thousands of families received practical and essential support from the Covid Direct Response Service and information tools we put in place within just days of the first lockdown. Since then, we have continued to adapt and evolve our programmes and our fundraising activity to cope with the ever-changing world we are all living in, and are now working as hard as possible to return all of our key programmes to their pre-pandemic levels and beyond.
“The WellChild Art Auction is an absolutely key project as we look to raise funds to ensure that we can have all of those vital programmes working to their full extent as soon as possible, and to sustain the charity in what continue to be challenging times.”
For curator Westbrook, this year’s WellChild Art Auction demonstrates the power of art as a vehicle for raising awareness and creating positive change. Positive themes of hope and celebration can be seen throughout the works on sale.
He says: “During recent events, art and culture has played a key role in helping preserve our sense of community and uplifting our well-being, millions of rainbows have been painted, millions of hands have clapped in community support. I share this belief that art and culture can bring us together, it helps communities build bridges of shared experiences promoting well-being. It helps people to feel, to think, to react.”
He adds, by bidding on a work, you’ll be buying more than a beautiful art work. You’ll be supporting the hopes and dreams of vulnerable young people and their families at a critical time in their lives, after a critical moment in all our histories.
To bid on the auction head here. Bidding closes on 29 October at 5pm BST (12pm EDT).