As the summer season slows, the humanitarian organization Blucheck, supported by actor and filmmaker Liev Shreiver, and Manhattan’s Mriya Gallery teamed up for a benefit auction in East Hampton this past Labor Day weekend. The immersive charity event was to support Ukrainian children as the horrors of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine continue.
Socialites and cocktails filled the 7,000-square-foot East Hampton home of Scott Baxter, the well-connected founder of the architectural hardware firm SA Baxter and SBCYachting. It was organized in just a few weeks by Mriya’s founder, Artem Yalanskiy, and Baxter, who opened his home, stating, “I am a supporter of displaced people.”
The Hamptons Art & Hope Gala: A Night of Culture and Compassion
The art collector’s home was the backdrop for Mriya, New York’s first contemporary Ukrainian art gallery, and Bluecheck to stage the Hamptons Art & Hope Gala on August 31. The evening offered guests the opportunity to support a great cause and the rare chance to browse Baxter’s stunning art collection, including works by Andy Warhol, Auguste Rodin, and Salvador Dali. Baxter’s collection was interspersed with pieces by Ukrainian artists from Mriya’s Gallery, such as Andrii Bludov, Mariko Gelman, Yevhenii Shapovalov, Nina Murashkina, Dasha S. Kandinsky, and others, curated by Rukh Arts Hub’s Mariia Manuilenko and Olga Severina. The charity event also had a silent and live auction of Ukrainian art.
In May, Unicef reported that nearly 2,000 children have been killed since Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February of 2022. This includes a missile strike in July that hit Kyiv Children’s Hospital, and on September 5, at least three children were killed by a Russian attack on Lviv. According to Ukrainian authorities, around 20,000 Ukrainian children have also been abducted since 2022 by Russia – meeting the United Nations’ definition of genocide.
In a written statement and on Instagram, Schreiber promoted the fundraising charity event, saying, “As Ukraine defends itself against Russia’s brutal and multilayered attack, it’s more essential than ever that we celebrate and reinforce Ukrainian culture and character. The best defense against any attempt at genocide is a broad embrace of the humanity and culture at the heart of it. What they are fighting for is simply a right to exist. To raise their children and their children’s children as Ukrainian.”
Murphy Poindexter, Bluecheck co-founder, said, “The Mriya team reached out to us about their goal of doing a fundraiser to spread awareness and raise money for local NGOs supporting children in Ukraine.”
At the charity event, attendees sipped spritzes, prosecco, and hors d’oeuvres while enjoying Baxter’s California-style home and pool flanked by paintings by Ukrainian artists. Guests also enjoyed the Fima Chupakhin Jazz Band performances, and DJ Anastasia Bondarenko provided the soundtrack.
Some items were sold in a silent auction, with a percentage of art sale proceeds going to Bluecheck. Charity cocktails were $250, and the $750 tickets included a curated dinner by Ukrainian chef Dima Martseniuk. The menu included canapés, a Ukrainian specialty of dark bread topped with cured pork fat known as salo and picket.
A Continued Commitment to Support: Ongoing Fundraising Efforts
The gala raised $22,000 in ticket sales, which, after art sales, totaled $31,380 by the evening’s end. However, fundraising continues with online auctions.
One guest, Julia Haart, star of the Netflix series My Unorthodox Life, was born in Moscow and brought to the U.S. as a child. The actress described delivering ambulances to the besieged city of Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine. “The fight that is happening in Ukraine today is a battle for freedom, and it is our duty to stand with them,” she said. Haart purchased Dasha Kandinsky’s Blossom #6 for $12,000 to help support the cause.
The exhibiting artist in attendance was Julia Isabel, who left Ukraine after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. She lives in Connecticut with her son, who went to visit Ukraine shortly before Russia invaded and now cannot leave because he is of war mobilization age (18 to 60).
“The war in Ukraine has affected everyone in some way,” Isabel said, standing near her self-portrait, She and Her Shadows (priced at $8,000), which she said illustrates her understanding that there is “no time to die” because there is “a lot to do still.”
