Artists on East End put work up for auction to raise money for Ukraine

A large collection of work from East End artists will be on sale in Sag Harbor this weekend — and every cent will go toward a charity benefiting Ukraine.

“Artists for Ukraine,” hosted by The Church, a nonprofit Sag Harbor creative center, offers an online auction and an art show from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday. The bulk of the work will be hung at The Church on Madison Street. Additional work will be at Grenning Gallery, Keyes Art, Romany Kramoris Gallery and Sara Nightingale Gallery, which are all in Sag Harbor.

The works start at 50% of market value and may be bid on by visiting app.galabid.com/artforukraine/items. All money will go to the Manhattan-based charity Razom for Ukraine, which was founded in 2014 and states its mission is to build a prosperous Ukraine.

Interest from artists was so strong that organizers had to cap entries at 110 participants due to space constraints, said April Gornik, an event organizer and participating artist. More than $40,000 has already been pledged by bidders, according to the auction website.

“It’s very exciting,” said Gornik, a co-founder of The Church and whose artist husband, Eric Fischl, is also participating in the show. “We’re really looking forward to making a significant contribution [to Razom.] 

Razom has received about $30 million since Russia invaded in February and has delivered about half of that into the hands of Ukrainians, said Razom spokeswoman Nonna Tsiganok. The bulk of that has gone toward medical and hospital supplies, she said. No donation is too small or large, and donors can be sure the money will benefit the Ukrainian people, she added.

“We’re one of the few organizations that are on the ground in Ukraine, in the hotspot zones,” Tsiganok said. “We have a trusted network of distributors and partners that we’ve been nurturing relationships with since 2014, since our inception, so we know them well and we know that aid is getting to the right place.”

Other East End arts organization have raised tens of thousands of dollars for aid to the people of Ukraine as well.

The Suffolk Theater in Riverhead raised $35,000 with its “All for Ukraine” concert in March, according to a news release. And William Ris Gallery in Jamesport will also host an exhibit beginning April 30, of which a portion of proceeds will benefit Razom.

Artist Dan Rizzi, of Sag Harbor, whose work for the show at The Church depicts a bird sitting atop an olive branch imposed on the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag, said he had no hesitation about participating even though he financially supports himself through his art. He said artists often step up in times of crisis, adding that he was aghast by the March bombing of a children’s hospital and maternity ward in Mariupol.

“At a time like this, I mean, how can you not do something for these poor people,” Rizzi said. “These are war crimes. This is murder and it’s happening right in front of us.”

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.