Art For Life, Where Music Meets the Arts

The music, fashion and film industries joined with art and philanthropy lovers recently at Rush Philanthropic 12^th Annual Art For Life benefit.

Soledad O’Brien, Tangie Murray, Danny Simmons, Mary J. Blige, Kim Davis, Oz Garcia, Ed Norton, Russell Simmons

By Chris Windham

Human Nature magazine

Art For Life, held each year at Russell Simmons’ East Hampton, N.Y. estate, benefits art education and gallery programs through silent and live auctions. This year, organizers say Art For Life raised more than $1.5 million, which will benefit more than 2,300 students in art programs.

“We’re great,” Simmons said about the fundraising. “We’re doing better than we could have expected.”

Art For Life also honors individuals for success in their careers and for doing good works that better the community. This year, Art For Life honored R&B singer Mary J. Blige; Kimberly B. Davis, President of the JPMorgan Chase Foundation; nutritionist and author Oz Garcia; Tamara Mellon, Founder & Chief Creative Officer of Jimmy Choo, and actor Edward Norton, who during his acceptance speech championed the benefits of arts education programs, which have shrunk in recent years due to budget cuts.

“One the first things that people look at as an investment that is a bonus is the arts,” Norton said. “They look at the way we invest in the arts as something that, as a thing, we can do without. The problem with that view of things is that arts education isn’t about teaching a specific skill to draw, or to understand drama, it’s about empowering peoples’ minds to think in a nonlinear way.”

Blige, who founded the nonprofit Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now (FFAWN) with marketing guru Steve Stoute, thanked Russell Simmons for the honor and for his mentorship.

“I can not thank you enough for honoring me for my philanthropic efforts, and my life and career and everything I’ve done,” Blige said. “I want to say thank you to everybody who has helped me. Russell, thank you for giving me what you have given so many others – the opportunity to be like you.”

CNN broadcaster Soledad O’Brien hosted the evening’s affairs, which featured a live auction moderated by Star Jones and a performance by singer Jennifer Hudson, who drew the audience to their feet with “Spotlight,” “Angel” and her Dreamgirls hit “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.”

The crowd was also entertained by mentalist Lior Suchard, who was able to bring smiles to faces of skeptics in the room with his hidden knowledge.

This year’s art auction celebrated “Works on Paper,” with Kara Walker serving as the featured artist. Walker added a piece to this year’s auction items. A full roster of established artists donated prints for the auction, including Brice Marden, Chuck Close, Ross Bleckner, Carrie Mae Weems and Peter Tunney.

Yoko Ono, the widow of Beatles legend John Lennon, also donated a piece inspired by the work of Autism Speaks. The artworks, and other item’s donated by Simmons’ celebrity supporters, including personal meetings with Gwyneth Paltrow, Justin Timberlake, Tracy Morgan and Ed Norton, are available for bid on charitybuzz.com.

Watch Jennifer Hudson perform “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.”