Exhibitions: Benefit Exhibition & Sale

November 10, 1971: "Community Gallery Benefit-Sale” Launches Fund-Raising Campaign on November 21

More than fifty (50) artists from across the United States have donated paintings, sculpture, graphics, photography and crafts to be sold for the benefit of The Brooklyn Museum’s Community Gallery at a COMMUNITY GALLERY SURVIVAL EXHIBITION-SALE opening at the Community Gallery on Sunday, November 21, 1971, at 11 A.M. This fund-raising event officially launches a drive to raise $20,000 by the end of January to enable the Community Gallery to fulfill its commitments for the 1971-72 season. Coordinated by Henri Ghent and members of the Community Gallery’s Advisory Committee, as well as community artists, the Benefit-Sale will continue through January 2, 1972.

Inaugurated in September, 1968, the Community Gallery is the first facility created within the walls of a major American museum for the purpose of encouraging and fostering community creativity on both professional and non-professional levels. Since its advent more than forty (40) exhibitions have been presented--involving more than 1,000 artists of every race, creed, and level of artistic development. Virtually every segment of the varied community it serves has been represented. These have included the first New York museum showing of local Puerto Rican artists; Afro-American artisans; children’s art; sculptors; photographers; Haitian artists; the art of Brooklyn’s senior citizens, chronically ill adults, blind artists, and emotionally disturbed children, to name a few.

Commenting on the outstanding success of the Gallery, Ghent noted that despite the loyal and generous backing received from the overall community as well as the recognition accorded it in yearly grants from the New York State Council on the Arts, the Community Gallery is forced to struggle to survive from one season to the next. "This year ", said Ghent, "the Council could only contribute 55% of our operational budget request which makes a tremendous difference in the implementation and scope of our planned activities for the 1971-72 season. If we do not succeed in reaching our fund raising goal of $20,000, the bulk of the shows already scheduled will have to be shelved.”

Among the artists who donated works to be sold to aid the Community Gallery Fund are: Clarence Bunch, sculptor, N.Y.C.; Floyd Coleman, painter, Illinois; John Day, painter, N.Y.C.; Elizabeth Delson, graphics, Park Slope, Brooklyn; Spencer Depas, painter, Brooklyn; Anneta Duveen, painter, Park Slope, Brooklyn; Fritz Eichenberg, woodcut artist, Peace Dale, Rhode Island; Charles Fuhrman, painter, Brooklyn; Bernard Gotfryd, photographer, N.Y.C.; Wilbur Haynie, painter, Los Angeles, California; Phoebe Helman, painter, N.Y.C.; Kiyoshi Iwasa, painter , N.Y.C.; Gustav Klumpp, primitive painter, Brooklyn; Patricia Lenihan, painter, Illinois; Helga Meyer, sculptor, N.Y.C.; Brian O’Doherty, sculptor, N.Y.C.; Robert Reed, painter, Connecticut; John Rhoden, Sculptor, Brooklyn Heights; Constance Scharff, painter, Brooklyn; Joseph Shannon, Contructionist, New Jersey; Thomas Sills, painter, N.Y.C.; Alvin Smith, painter, N.Y.C.; Nina Howell Starr, photographer, N.Y.C.; Soh Suga, painter, Park Slope, Brooklyn; Ruth Tunstall, painter, California; Ralph Wickiser, painter, Brooklyn.

Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1971 - 1988. 1971, 048-49. View Original 1 . View Original 2

December 13, 1971: The Brooklyn Museum’s popular Community Gallery will be the scene and the beneficiary of an art auction on Sunday afternoon, December 19, 1971, from 1 to 5 P.M., it was announced today by Henri Ghent, Curator of the Gallery.

More than 150 paintings, sculpture, drawings and prints - many of them donated by some of the country’s leading artists - will be auctioned for the benefit of the Community Gallery, the first showcase for community artists established within the walls of a major American museum. Like most cultural institutions and projects, the Community Gallery is feeling the financial squeeze and in order to insure the continuation of its activities, it has launched a series of fundraising events aimed at raising $20,000 by the end of January.

“The response in terms of art work donations has been most encouraging,” Ghent said recently. “There are even art donations from as far away as California. The quality of the work is remarkable, and this is an excellent opportunity for even the most sophisticated collectors to discover outstanding works for a minimal price.”

Clare Edward Walker, a prominent lawyer and Park Slope resident, will serve as auctioneer. He will be assisted by Sidney L. Delson, A.I.A., chairman of the Community Gallery Advisory Committee and also a resident of Park Slope.

Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1971 - 1988. 1971, 057. View Original