Approaching the New Year: A Thank You to Los Angeles Artists

Creating art is in and of itself a generous act. Artists are sharing a vision of the world, something that moves viewers, enhances viewers’ lives, and shapes something beautiful out of chaos.

What a collection of astonishing work: oil and acrylic paintings, sketches, digital prints, photography, sculptures.

We’ve been proud, deeply touched, and beyond thrilled to see even more generous artistic moments this year, in not one, but two fundraisers held for my daughter and grandson Nicole Saari and baby Aaron Saari, below, suffering from late stage Lyme Disease, which is not covered by medical insurance or recognized by the CDC.

In March, we held a successful fundraiser at the Neutra Gallery in Silver Lake. Our most recent event, depicted here, held at the Loft at Liz’s in mid-city,  included some 90 pieces of profoundly wonderful art in one of the liveliest and most exciting settings in the LA art scene. The event was an evening of food, drink, and of course a bounty of silent-auction ART at “Lyme Away 2: Help Nicole Saari and Baby Aaron Saari Win The Fight Against Late Stage and Congenital Lyme Disease.”

As the New Year approaches, we wanted to thank the art community for their amazing and joyous contributions,  and remind our readers to support artists and gallerists by spreading the word about their work, attending openings and artists’ talks, buying art when they can, reviewing and photographing art when they can, and simply opening their hearts and minds and eyes to the incredible work of so many artists here in Los Angeles. Below, are photos from our Loft at Liz’s event in December, and following those, from our Neutra Gallery event in March.

Above harpist Corrin Zug plays; below pyrographic artist Zachary Aronson worked live.

Above, right, Loft at Liz’s own Liz Gordon with artist Stuart Kusher.

Above, Randi Kristopher Kreeft, curator at Loft at Liz’s

From our March event:

Above, the band Search for Delicious rocked out at the Neutra.

Above, curator Dulce Stein.

Below, an art raffle, conducted by Terry Holzman, helped raise funds, too.

Participating artists included: Catherine Ruane, Zadik Zadikian, Francisco Alvarado, Hung Viet Nguyen, Monica Wyatt, Kaloust Guedel, Dwora Fried, Chenhung Chen, Dani Dodge, Bryan Ida, Monica Wyatt, Zachary Aronson, Susan T. Kurland, Lorraine Heitzman, Richard Chow, Mike Mollett, Sonja Schenk, Ted Meyer, Kate Carvellas, Samuelle Richardson, Scott Trimble, Cathy Immordino, Kristine Schomaker, Robert Costanza, L. Aviva Diamond, Tom Dunn, Peggy Sivert Zask, Ben Zask, Aline Mare, Johnny Naked, Cansu Bulgu, Bibi Davidson, Cynthia Friedlob, Leonard Greco, Stephen Levey,  Karrie Ross, Tracey Weiss, Phil Santos, Skye Amber Sweet, Robyn Alatorre, Michael Giancristiano, Rouzanna Berberian, Gary Brewer, Heather Lowe, Julian Hernandez, Gary Pawler, Bleep, Sydney Croskery, Lena Moross, Jodi Bonassi, Kristine Augustyn, Susan Lizotte, Lena Moross, Randi Matushevitz, Deirdre Sullivan-Beeman,  Kim Kimbro Taylor,  Erika Lizee,  Nadege Monchera Baer, Nurit Avesar, Rouzanna Berberian, Tom Dunn, Terry Holzman, Skye Amber Sweet, Gay Summer Rick, Jane Szabo, and many more — I hope I have not missed anyone, but there was such an outpouring of wonderful works, I may have.  (And please correct me!)

Happy New Year!

• Genie Davis; photos: Jack Burke, Genie Davis