A host of top tier New York-based artists are opening the doors to their studios to benefit the International Fine Print Dealers Association Foundation this November.
Eleven artists, including Katherine Bradford, Leonardo Drew, Jeffrey Gibson, Rashid Johnson, Jeff Koons, Vera Lutter, Joel Mesler, Marilyn Minter, Tschabalala Self, Joel Shapiro and Mickalene Thomas, are taking part in the STUDIO VISIT benefit sale, which runs live on the IFPDA Foundation’s website from November 9 thought 19.
In a world increasingly driven by events and experiences, selling visits to the studio of an artist that most people know only by articles and internet searches is a novel idea for a fundraiser.
Jenny Gibbs, the executive director of the IFPDA and IFPDA Print Fair told ARTnews via email that she reached out to independent curator and publisher Sharon Coplan, who curated the selection of participating artists, because “because she has such a great track record developing projects for nonprofits like the suite of prints she produced to benefit The Metropolitan Museum of Art for their 150th anniversary. When we started talking about the benefit for the IFPDA Foundation, instead of asking galleries and artists to donate works for auction, we began brainstorming about asking them for studio visits to sell—something completely new.”
According to Coplan, once the idea came, the rest unfolded organically “since each of these artists has created prints which have been shown at the IFPDA Print Fair which is the main fundraiser for the IFPDA Foundation.”
Five spots will be available for each studio tour, with each spot priced at $1,000 per person.
The proceeds from the sale will benefit the IFPDA Foundation’s grants programs which support curatorial internships, research, and exhibitions to promote awareness and understanding of printmaking as an artistic medium as well as gallery and printmaking internships for students from historically Black colleges and universities.
The “buy now” STUDIO VISIT sale opens on November 9.
