This year, New York artist Katherine Bernhardt  is to be honored at the ARTWALK NY charity art auction, presented by MaxMara benefiting the Coalition for the Homeless. The 25th anniversary of the event will take place on November 18th at Spring Studios as hundreds of artists, art-lovers and other compassionate New Yorkers to join together as activist artists while raising awareness about issues of homelessness, poverty, and social justice. Over the last 25 years, artists such as Ed Ruscha, Jenny Holzer, and Yoko Ono have been honored.

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Bernhardt is best known for her iconic, bright large scale paintings, characterized by fluid gestures in clashing colors. She often paints popular cartoon characters like Garfield, the Smurfs, and The Pink Panther as well as everyday objects such as watermelons, tennis shoes, Coca Cola, Pepsi, Scotch Tape, and Windex, which have become part of her painting vocabulary. While these subjects often recur within a singular work and throughout multiple paintings they may not necessarily relate to each other, a concept inspired by Dutch wax fabrics that incorporates unrelated patterns. This approach creates limitless possibilities and infectious humor into the work. No matter the subject matter, she pays particular focus to form and the color, creating gems that are both familiar and uniquely hers.  

For ARTWALK Bernhardt has teamed up with Prospect to create a limited edition plate based on one of her signature Pink Panther paintings - The Acrobatic Dance, 2019. The fine bone china plates come in an edition of 150 and sell for $150 which provides 75 meals for people in need. You can purchase them directly here

Gratified at the honor, Bernhardt said, “I am thrilled Coalition for the Homeless has decided to honor me at ARTWALK this year. I’m a big fan of the organization and have donated work in past years. Homelessness in New York City is at record-breaking levels, families now make up three-quarters of the shelter population. Through the critical work at Coalition for the Homeless, homeless New Yorkers have a fierce advocate who is on the front lines calling for more housing for the homeless and providing them with the services they need to get back on feet like emergency food and clothing to job training. ARTWALK provides essential funds for the services they provide and I’m proud to be a part of it.”

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The Coalition for the Homeless's Grand Central Food Program (GCFP) was founded in 1985, the day after a homeless woman died of starvation in Grand Central Terminal. Since then, the program has grown to become the largest mobile soup kitchen in America. Each night, three vans deliver between 800 and 1,200 healthy meals of hot stew, bread, fresh fruit, and juice or milk — as well as coats, hats, gloves and blankets in the colder weather at 25 stops around the city – to those struggling to survive on the streets. For many homeless New Yorkers, this is their only meal of the day.

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In its 33 year history, the program has distributed more than seven million meals and has never missed a single night of operation. All proceeds from the sale of plates will be used to provide hot, nutritious meals to homeless New Yorkers.