Affordable Art Fair again trades free admission for donated art supplies
The September 17 drive routes donations to Materials for the Arts, which will pass the supplies to New York City public schools.
Market and Money
Affordable Art Fair New York will again offer free admission on September 17 in exchange for new or gently used art supplies, the fair said. General admission tickets to the fair without a donation are $35.
The donations go to Materials for the Arts, a program of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs with support from the Department of Education and its nonprofit partner, Friends of Materials for the Arts.
The donation drive runs from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Starrett-Lehigh Building in Chelsea, where the fair’s fall edition opens September 16 and runs through September 20. Accepted items include paints, paintbrushes, blank canvases, pencils, crayons, markers, unused journals and jewelry-making and other craft supplies.
The partnership dates back at least to the spring 2024 edition, according to news reports at the time.
Other major art fairs have tied their commercial operations to charitable giving, but through very different mechanisms.
In 2023, Art Basel announced Access, an online sales platform launched during Art Basel Miami Beach that year. The fair said it is "designed to support philanthropic giving."
In that program, each artwork purchase request requires a donation pledge, beginning at a minimum of 10% of the artwork's price, to be directed to the collector’s choice between The Miami Foundation and The International Committee of the Red Cross.
And Frieze says on its website that it allocates more than £100,000 each year in corporate giving to environmental charities like Art into Acres, Solaraid and ClientEarth.
Affordable Art Fair’s partnership with Materials for the Arts stands out for connecting a donation drive directly to the local arts environment.
“We’re incredibly proud to partner with organizations like Affordable Art Fair who recognize the importance of making art accessible to all,” said Tara Sansone, the program’s executive director.
“By partnering on these events, we’re able to create accessible opportunities for New Yorkers to experience art, and in turn, help artists keep doing what they do best.”
After the fair, Materials for the Arts will distribute the supplies to New York City public schools, the fair said.
“It’s the perfect way to broaden access to the fair while simultaneously giving back to local arts education programs and promoting sustainability and reuse in the arts,” Erin Schuppert, fair director of Affordable Art Fair New York, said in an emailed statement.
“We’re huge fans of the way that Materials for the Arts supports artists, NYC public schools, and local nonprofits, and we’re grateful for the visitors to the fair who donate.”
The supply drive is one of several additions to Affordable Art Fair's fall edition, which brings together 91 galleries from 14 countries and more than 600 artists showing over 1,000 works, the fair said.
The edition marks the debut of Camp Z, the accessible-art program from Lower East Side gallery Collective Z, as the fair’s newest fellowship gallery. Its presentation includes work by artists Tanner Bosma and John Hayduk.
Arts Gowanus, a Brooklyn arts nonprofit, will present its inaugural fellowship program, showing work by its first two fellows, Shelby Jackson and Sashia Jiang, alongside their mentors, Sean Qualls and Miguel Reyes.
Urgent Matter is reader-supported. Please consider subscribing to support independent arts journalism.
Members Discussion