Thank You for Supporting Our Nina Simone Childhood Home Benefit Gala & Auction

Dear Friends,

Thanks to your support, our Benefit Gala and Auction for Nina Simone’s Childhood Home exceeded our expectations. Auction sales totaled $5.38 million, in addition to nearly half a million dollars raised for tables and seats at the gala, and over $12,500 in individual donations.

This multifaceted initiative supporting the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund’s restoration of Nina Simone’s birthplace and childhood home was realized as part of an unprecedented collaboration across the worlds of art, philanthropy, and historic preservation.

The celebratory gala held at our New York gallery this past weekend included a live musical performance by Grammy Award-winning artist H.E.R. and a dinner catered by James Beard Award-winning Chef JJ Johnson. The online auction—conducted by Sotheby’s and co-curated by Venus Williams and Adam Pendleton—featured works by 11 leading contemporary artists: Cecily Brown, Ellen Gallagher, Rashid Johnson, Robert Longo, Julie Mehretu, Adam Pendleton, Martin Puryear, Sarah Sze, Mary Weatherford, Stanley Whitney, and Anicka Yi. An in-person exhibition of these artworks drew some 5,500 visitors to our gallery in New York this month. 

I want to offer my sincerest thanks to Venus, Adam, and all the artists who donated their work. Thank you to our partners at the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Sotheby’s for your work in making this fundraiser such a resounding success.

You can still contribute to this important cause. To make an individual donation to the Action Fund’s Nina Simone Childhood Home preservation project, visit (opens in a new window) savingplaces.org/supportnina.

The preservation of an artist’s history by other artists is what needs to be happening in this world, and the idea that we can be a part of that is so deeply gratifying. 

With thanks, 
Marc Glimcher