Hosted By
Sway Calloway

Music By
DJ Cassidy

Event Chair
Zulema Griffin

Host Committee
Shamin Abas
Ian Alteveer
Naomi Beckwith
Adair Curtis
Clara Ha
Arana Hankin
Emily Havens
Rachel Honvanian
Frederick Janka
Christopher Y. Lew
Bernard Lumpkin
Christopher Melton & Alison Kulach
Wardell Milan
Richard Murray
Jill Newman
amani olu
Larry Ossei-Mensah
Alaina Simone
Nicole Young

REQUESTED INDIVIDUAL DONATION $125
For tickets: https://co.clickandpledge.com/sp/d1/default.aspx?wid=32564
Or click the button below

“It’s a difficult time to be a charity,” says Tangie Murray, Executive Director of the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation. “We are so excited to partner with Ugallery on this creative initiative. We look forward to this being the first of many projects we do together.”

“Access to art education is so important, but art programs are usually the first to get cut in tough times,” says Ugallery Director of Operations Stephen Tanenbaum. “Like Ugallery, the Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation is helping to broaden and expand the reach of the art world, and we want these types of programs to always be available. This is one of the ways Ugallery can help.”

The shirt is designed by Ugallery artist Lana Williams with the heart and rhythm of a city as her inspiration.  Each is silk screened on Alternative Apparel T-shirts, worn by Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Robert Pattinson, Justin Timberlake and Bradley Cooper. This unique design will be this season’s must-have, worn layered under a sweater or jacket or perfect to sport at the gym.

These $40 shirts are for men and women and are available on UGallery.com.

ABOUT UGALLERY.COM

Ugallery.com is a budget-conscious and expertly curated online art gallery that gives art enthusiasts access to affordable original artwork by emerging artists. Young entrepreneurs and art lovers, Alex Farkas, Greg Rosborough and Stephen Tanenbaum, founded Ugallery after seeing the frustration of their talented artist friends who had no outlet to promote their work, and even considered giving up their craft.  They created Ugallery.com to help artists begin their careers and offer patrons access to affordable original artwork.

RUSSELL SIMMONS AND DANNY SIMMONS CELEBRATED 10^th ANNIVERSARY OF ART FOR LIFE EAST HAMPTON RAISING $1 MILLION FOR RUSH PHILANTHROPIC ARTS FOUNDATION

Brothers Russell, Danny, and Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons celebrated Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation’s 10^th Anniversary ART FOR LIFE East Hampton Benefit, on Saturday, July 18^th, which raised nearly $1 million. The gala, held at the private East Hampton Estate of Russell Simmons, was hosted by CNN’s Soledad O’Brien and celebrated the creative energy of New York City youth. The evening also paid tribute to exemplary individuals in the community for their career achievements and philanthropic works. The 2009 Honorees included actress Vanessa Williams, Chief Executive Officer of Salamander Hospitality and co-founder of BET Sheila C. Johnson and Target. This year’s Featured Artist was Shepard Fairey, widely known for his iconic Obama HOPE image. Event Chairs included John Bartlett, Allison and Chip Brady, Tim Gunn, Stephen Hill, Donna Karan, Susan Taylor and David Tisch. Simon de Pury of Phillips de Pury & Co. served as the evening’s Auctioneer with music by DJ M.O.S. Star Jones led this year’s Rush Kids Auction where ART FOR LIFE guests pledged to sponsor a child for a year of Rush Education Programming. 112 kids were sponsored on Saturday night with pledges from many notable guests such as Gayle King, Kevin Liles, Event Chair Donna Karan Honoree Sheila C. Johnson and Russell himself, to name a few. Other guests of the evening included; Kyle MacLachlan (Desperate Housewives) & Desiree Gruber (Producer Project Runway), Jill Zarin & Countess Luann De Lesseps (Real Housewives of New York), Angela, Diggy, Russy & Justin Simmons, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Patricia Velasquez, Cheetah Girls Adrienne Bailon Tila Tequila, The Wire’s Jamie Hector, Eric B. and New York Governor David A. Paterson.

Launched in 2000, ART FOR LIFE East Hampton is Rush Philanthropic’s primary fundraising outreach to friends and supporters. Funds raised through ART FOR LIFE will provide support for many projects throughout the year dedicated to reaching out to New York City youth through the arts. In 2005, Rush Philanthropic expanded its ART FOR LIFE franchise with the first ART FOR LIFE Palm Beach and in 2008 introduced ART FOR LIFE Miami Beach. Outside of providing funding for Rush Philanthropic’s core programs, proceeds from ART FOR LIFE East Hampton and ART FOR LIFE Miami Beach also provide direct funding to nonprofit arts and education organizations throughout New York City and South Florida.

Photo Gallery

2009 GOLD RUSH AWARDS!

February 10, 2009 - New York, NY - Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation’s 2009 Gold Rush Awards, a multi-media fundraising event and cocktail party, honoring outstanding individuals in the arts for establishing groundbreaking community arts programs or projects that embody social awareness and engagement, brought out an eclectic crowd of art enthusiasts, VIP guests and celebs last night at Red Bull Space in Soho.

Host of the evening, MTV’s Sway, alongside artist and Rush Philanthropic Co-Founder, Danny Simmons and Rush Galleries Curatorial Director, Derrick Adams, presented the first ever Gold Rush honorees with custom designed award medallions created by designers, Kevin Merkel and Jerry Gant. Honorees included Beverly Bond, DJ and Founder of BLACK GIRLS ROCK! Inc., Sonja Okun, Founder of Exalt Youth Program and Writer/Curator Franklin Sirmans.

Alternative Hip-Hop group, AntiPop Consortium kicked off the night’s live music, mixing it up on stage with their innovative sound experience. Talib Kweli closed out the evening with a dynamic performance and introduced surprise guests, fellow recording artists Res and Graph who, with Kweli, form the group Idle Warship. DJ Cassidy kept the crowd grooving all night, only taking a break so he could record Kweli’s performance for his blog with his personal handheld camera. All performances were donated in support of the organization. The evening also included video installations, a special silent art and luxury auction and performance art by The Golden Girls. The evening’s cocktails were donated by Americana Vodka and Red Bull.

Guests included Grammy® Award winner Estelle, actor Jamie Hector, renown photographer Jamil Shabazz, and artists Mickalene Thomas, Shinique Smith, Wardell Milan, Giant Magazine Editor-In-Chief Emil Wilbekin and designer Brian Wood who also created the custom made 2009 Gold Rush Awards hand bag.

Proceeds from this event will support exhibitions and programming at Rush Arts Gallery, Corridor Gallery and the Rush Teens Curatorial Project-core programs of Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation. Rush Arts Gallery and Corridor Gallery are dedicated to providing urban youth with significant exposure and access to the arts as well as providing exhibition opportunities to early and mid-career artists.

Art For Life Miami

ART FOR LIFE MIAMI - 2009

After three sold out successful years of ART FOR LIFE Palm Beach, we recognized that there was great need to support underserved youth arts organizations throughout South Florida. In 2008, Rush Philanthropic introduced the ART FOR LIFE benefit event to the Miami Beach community.

Held Saturday, April 5, 2008 at The Bath Club in Miami Beach, the inaugural ART FOR LIFE Miami benefit was a spectacular evening attended by over 500 influential members of the business, arts and entertainment communities. $575K was raised in support of our mission. Honorees included Grammy® Award winning artists John Legend and Wyclef  Jean, Financial Expert and TV personality Suze Orman and real estate developer R. Donahue Peebles with Sean “Diddy” Combs as Honorary Chair. Sponsors included Platinum Sponsor R. Donahue & Katrina Peebles and Silver Sponsors Hennessy, Anheuser-Busch and Wal-Mart. Guests included Event Chair Tracy Mourning, Miami Heat players Dwyane Wade, Alonzo Mourning, and Ricky Davis, Kansas City Chiefs player Larry Johnson; film director and Miami native Brett Ratner, Scott Stapp of Creed and his wife Jaclyn, comedian Pauly Shore, TV personality and actress Julissa Bermudez, Latin sensation Paulina Rubio, singer Melky Jean, director/writer Ron Lang and many others.

While the vast majority of funds raised through ART FOR LIFE Miami will be used to address the vast ongoing needs of the at-risk youth Rush currently serves, twenty-five percent of the event’s net proceeds has benefited programs for disadvantaged youth in South Florida’s Dade County.  2008 ART FOR LIFE Miami Youth Beneficiaries included, DASH (Design and Architecture Senior High School), American Children Orchestras for Peace, enFamilia, Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center, Miami Light Project, Roxy Theatre Group, Honey Shine Mentoring Program, Soulfrito and The Theatre Institute of South Florida.

Art For Life East Hampton

Now preparing to celebrate the Tenth Anniversary ART FOR LIFE East Hampton benefit event, Rush Philanthropic was poised to make its ninth year an exciting celebration unlike any our friends and supporters had seen before. The evening, held in celebration of the creative energy of our New York City youth, honored exemplary individuals for success in their respective fields and good works to better the community. The 2008 honorees included Christy Turlington Burns, Frederick Iseman, Arnold L. Lehman and Norman M. Feinberg of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Patrice Motsepe and Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe and Brett Ratner. CNN’s Soledad O’Brien was the evenings host.

Past honorees include actor Forest Whitaker, Alicia Keys, Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, Judith Jamison, Donna Karan, Raymond McGuire, John Demsey of MAC Cosmetics, Tom Schutte of Pratt Institute, Ross Bleckner, Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s, Sherry B. Bronfman, Michael Goldstein, Earl G. Graves Sr., Tommy Hilfiger, Cathy Hughes, Linda Johnson Rice, Michael Lee-Chin, Cynthia Nixon, Gordon Parks, VH1’s John Sykes, and the Studio Museum in Harlem’s Lowery Stokes Sims). Past hosts have included Kelly Ripa, Queen Latifah, Star Jones, Rosie Perez, Cynthia Nixon, Mos Def and Cedric “The Entertainer”.  Guests have included Governor David Paterson, Senator Chuck Schumer, Aretha Franklin, Top Chef’s Padma Lakshmi, Antonio “L.A.” Reid, Bob Johnson, Ken Chenault of American Express, Naomi Campbell, the cast of Sex and the City, Heather Graham, Harvey Weinstein, Juanita Jordon, Holly Robinson Peete, Gayle King, Martha Stewart, Usher, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Jon Bon Jovi, Ron Perelman, Ellen Barkin, Betsey Johnson, Patricia Field, Al Roker & Debra Roberts, Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis, Jay-Z, Damon Dash, Katie Couric, Richard Parsons, Rev. Al Sharpton, Marty Richards, and Donny Deutsch of Deutsch Inc.

Miami Beach – March 17, 2009- Kim Kardashian hosted Russell Simmons’, Danny Simmons’ and Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation‘s Second Annual ART FOR LIFE MIAMI BEACH gala on Saturday, March 14th at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. The evening of glamour and giving was held in celebration of the creative energy of New York and South Florida youth and honored Anheuser-Busch, Inc., the Rubell Family Collection and Chairman of Fontainebleau Resorts, Jeffrey Soffer, for their efforts improving the lives of others and their support of youth arts education. A surprised Alonzo Mourning was also given a congratulatory tribute on the retirement of his Miami Heat Jersey and was recognized for his positive impact on the lives of children and his community through his philanthropic endeavors of Alonzo Mourning Charities. A visibly moved Mourning said he was “humbled, honored and (has) always been inspired by Russell Simmons who has never relented in his efforts to give back to the community. “

Bringing back the classic elegance of old Hollywood, Bruce Sutka of Sutka Productions International transformed the Fontaine Ballroom into a supper club in chic shades of silver, black and white, reminiscent of the historic Fontainebleau’s 1960’s heyday. Tables were adorned with elaborate centerpieces including chandeliers, oversized lamps, and mini grand pianos. A bevy of celebrities were in attendance for the gala including New Orleans Saint Reggie Bush, Miami Dolphins Brandon Landon, actress Vivica Fox, George Hamilton, former Mexican President Vicente Fox and his wife Marta, socialite Sonia “Tita” Puopolo, Miss Africa USA 2008-2009 Nyasha Zimucha and legendary soul singer Betty Wright. Also in attendance were Event Cairs Allison and Chip Brady, Tybie Etoy Dotson, Fred Kleisner, Shareef Malnik, Tracy Mourning, Jennifer Rubell and Michelle Rubell.  Other notable guests include Don and Mera Rubell who accepted on behalf of the Rubell Family Collection, and co-founder of Miami City Ballet Toby Lerner-Ansin. Patrick Tully of TSports & Entertainment served as the night’s auctioneer helping to raise $60K during the live auction. Legendary DJ Irie manned the turntables, and brought the crowd to its feet for a few end-of-night two steps across the dance floor.

“This year was a very difficult one and we know that many of our foundation’s supporters have been impacted by the economic crisis we are all facing. We are especially grateful that there are those who still make it a priority to help programs like ours,” says Russell Simmons, “I hope that others will continue to support our cause by bidding on items in our Charity Buzz auction. The more we raise the more we have to give back to the worthy programs we support.” The auction on Charity Buzz http://www.charitybuzz.com will be open until March 24th and includes fabulous items like VIP passes to Beyonce’s upcoming tour; a meet and greet with Kanye West; portraits of Will Smith and Morgan Freeman by celebrated movie industry photographer Robert G. Zuckerman. The online auction also features several luxury packages including a trip to Four Seasons Great Exuma, a roundtrip seaplane excursion for eight courtesy of V1 Jets, and Kim Kardashian’s dress she wore when she met Prince Albert of Monaco.

A percentage of net proceeds for ART FOR LIFE MIAMI BEACH will go back into the Miami Dade County community via arts program grants which serve disadvantaged youth.  This year’s Featured Youth beneficiaries include: Arts for Learning, Miami Light Project and EnFAMILIA. Other local organizations who will receive grants this year include, Florida Film Institute, Thomas Armour Youth Ballet, Honey Shine Mentoring Program, Nat King Cole Generation Hope, PlayGround Theatre, Project Witness, Roxy Theatre Group and Theatre Institute of South Florida.

The ART FOR LIFE weekend kicked off its festivities on Friday March, 13th with an afternoon Youth Arts Day Celebration Group Exhibit at Design and Architecture Senior High School (DASH) in Miami Design District.  Young artists from all our youth beneficiaries were on hand to showcase their own art work, enjoy a pizza party and hear inspirational messages from Russell Simmons and Miss Africa USA, Nyasha Zimucha. Following the Youth Arts Day Celebration was a VIP cocktail reception held at Mondrian Hotel. The cocktail reception was underwritten by Art For Life Event Chair Fred Kleisner, CEO of Morgan’s Hotel Group. The weekend ended Sunday night March 15th at The Forge where Simmons hosted Soul Kitchen Sundays. Guests included former NFL player Warren Sapp and actress Queen Latifah. ART FOR LIFE Event Chair and Forge Owner Shareef Malnik encouraged guests to give to Rush Philanthropic. The organization also benefited from a portion of the evening’s door proceeds.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina in 1970, Shepard Fairey is a contemporary artist, graphic designer and illustrator. Fairey graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 1992 with a B.A. in illustration. He is most recognized as emerging from the skateboarding scene and became most notably known for his “André the Giant Has a Posse” sticker campaign and “OBEY” street art movement. Since 1989, Shepard has consistently produced a wide range of artwork from screenprints, mix media stencil collage, to 15 foot mural installations. In 2007, Shepard embarked on a pivotal year with producing 3 major solo exhibitions in New York City, London, and Los Angeles. All 3 exhibitions sold out with a showing of over a 100 pieces of art in each exhibition.

Most recently, Fairey created a series of posters supporting Barack Obama’s candidacy for President in 2008 which led a massive grassroots street awareness campaign. Fairey’s “PROGRESS”, “HOPE”, and “CHANGE” posters created a huge impact in the visibility of the Obama Campaign, in which President Obama, himself, personally thanked Fairey for making this art. Fairey also created an exclusive design for Rock the Vote, and sits on the advisory board of Reaching to Embrace the Arts, a not-for-profit organization that provides art supplies to disadvantaged schools and students. Shepard Fairey currently resides in Los Angeles, California.

In 2008, Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation was honored to feature Fairey and his now iconic Obama “HOPE” image in the Ninth Annual ART FOR LIFE East Hampton Art Auction.

For more information on Shepard Fairey, please visit www.obeygiant.com