Earlier this week, Kasmin opened its doors for the gallery’s most ambitious benefit yet in support of nonprofit Artistic Noise. The third annual auction honored Jordan Casteel—the event’s first featured artist. Over 40 donated works—curated by Olivia Toups and including pieces by Lee Dawson, Julia Garciá, Ficus Interfaith, and Milly Skellington—transformed the gallery’s Tenth Avenue outpost into a vivid snapshot of emerging voices.
“Our mission of serving the needs of a community made up of young people whose lives have been impacted by the juvenile court system, foster care system, probationary system, and mental health care systems has never felt more urgent and important,” shared Calder Zwicky, executive director of Artistic Noise. “And as a long-time Harlem-based arts organization, honoring an artist like Jordan Casteel feels like a dream come true.”
Guests filtered through the pop-up exhibition of auctioned works before making their way to the Manner’s newly minted rooftop, where sake cocktails from Sake ONO met sweeping views of the Soho skyline. Familiar faces like critic Will Heinrich; designer Kim Shui; and artists including Chloe Wise, Aaron Coley, and Leon Zhan mingled with collectors, writers, and Artistic Noise’s own young artists—several of whom shared meaningful conversations with Casteel earlier that day.
This year’s auction, which ended today, has been on track to surpass the organization’s $100,000 goal, which will go towards making art therapy and other resources accessible to system-impacted youth. But the partnership between Kasmin, CULTURED, and Artistic Noise highlights something even greater: the power of the art world to drive meaningful change.
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