Washington DC – People For the American Way is thrilled to announce that it will sell three important pieces of fine art by world-renowned, contemporary artists from its extensive collection at Sotheby’s in New York, as part of Sotheby’s September Contemporary Curated event. Bidding is currently underway online and will culminate with an in-person auction that takes place 11AM ET September 27 at Sotheby’s New York (1334 York Ave, New York, NY 10021). The proceeds will benefit People For’s work in this fall’s elections, as we face a critical inflection point for our democracy.
People For the American Way has endorsed Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for President and Vice President of the United States and is working to elect progressive candidates up and down the ballot.
You can view and bid on the artwork in the Sotheby’s auction, by artists Ed Ruscha, Roy Lichtenstein and Ellsworth Kelly, here. The artwork is also on display at the Sotheby’s showroom in Manhattan. The pieces include pop pioneer Lichtenstein’s “I Love Liberty,” the product of a collaboration that took place in the year after People For’s founding in 1981 by TV producer Norman Lear. Lichtenstein volunteered to create an original work for the organization, and his creation began a long tradition of visual artists working with People For the American Way.
“How often do you have the opportunity to buy great art and save democracy?” asked Svante Myrick, president of People For the American Way. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with Sotheby’s for this auction as part of our Artists for Democracy campaign. Artists for Democracy is a way for us to harness the power of art and artists to help us speak out for a democracy that works for all of us. This auction of pieces donated to People For the American Way will help support our work to get out the vote this fall, and is a great way to highlight the importance of this election.”
“This auction is a highlight of our overall campaign to engage art and artists in the fight for our democracy,” said People For the American Way Director of Campaigns Rio Tazewell. “We have an incredible group of visual artists that have come together for this campaign, chaired by Carrie Mae Weems and Shepard Fairey. We’re putting artists’ original works on billboards and posters, holding art-themed events, and giving artists a greater platform for their political activism – which has been part of our organization’s DNA since it was founded by Norman Lear.”
Other artists participating in Artists for Democracy include Beverly McIver, Hank Willis Thomas, Jenny Holzer, Cindy Sherman, Ann Hamilton, Victoria Cassinova, Christine Sun Kim and many others. In addition to putting artists’ original works on billboards and posters in battleground states, and holding art-themed events, the campaign is raising funds with art sales and auctions, generating earned media, and creating mass engagement through social media.
The individual estimated values of the People For pieces in the Sotheby’s auction range up to $200K. The auction follows another auction this month of pieces from the organization’s collections, at Freeman’s | Hindman Auctioneers of Chicago, IL, as well as another online auction with Sotheby’s, benefiting the work of both People For the American Way and People For the American Way Foundation.
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About Us People For the American Way is a national progressive advocacy organization that inspires and mobilizes Americans to defend freedom, justice, and democracy from those who threaten to take them away. For more than four decades, we have been dedicated to making the promise of America real for everyone and have worked toward a vision of a vibrant America where basic rights and freedoms are upheld for all, not just the wealthy and the powerful. Learn more: http://www.peoplefor.org
