Alliance is a charitable platform that allows Library Street Collective and participating artists to contribute 100% of funds raised to a nonprofit or organization of the artist’s choice. Each iteration invites the profiled artist to contribute an artwork as a way to transform artmaking into activism, putting forth their talent and passion to help others. At a time when there is such an unprecedented need across the country to fund activist and community groups, meal programs, healthcare and shelter - as well as countless other initiatives - we have been energized by the number of artists who have offered their time and work to help causes that resonate with them.
We hope that collectors who engage with these works will keep this spirit of generosity in mind, knowing that as they bid they are receiving a work of art that is a catalyst for change. Each iteration of Alliance will profile the charity or initiative that the artist has chosen, introducing our audience to important groups that are key players in the ongoing fight for social justice and the fulfillment of basic human needs across America.
The first iteration of Alliance features the work of Sam Friedman, with proceeds directed to NYC Together. NYC Together has a mission to support youth by elevating community strengths and organizations into crime reduction partners and tools. Through this work, public safety increases and there is a reduction in youth system involvement and violence.
Bidding is closed
“When choosing a charitable partner for this project I turned to friend, and photographer, Sue Kwon for advice. Kwon has spent many years documenting the work of NYC Together. The organization’s focus on youth and strengthening communities while lessening the need for traditional law enforcement interventions is critical for positive change for a new generation of New Yorkers.”
— Sam Friedman
Sam Friedman
Untitled, 2020
Acrylic on canvas
36h x 36w in
NYC Together places youth at the center of its work and leverages their strengths to reimagine solutions to community-based problems, lessening the need for traditional law enforcement interventions. NYC Together has a mission to support youth by elevating community strengths and organizations into crime reduction partners and tools. Through this work, public safety increases and there is a reduction in youth system involvement and violence.
“Project LEAD is a virtual curriculum that investigates health, nutrition, housing, and environmental disparities that impact communities of color. With your support, youth will earn money to develop culturally appropriate and informative campaigns that educate members of the black and Latinx community about COVID-19. It’s a win-win for our community: our youth will gain meaningful employment and educate others along the way.”
— Dana Rachlin, Founder
Sam Friedman
Sam Friedman (b. 1984, Oneonta, New York) moves between representational and abstract depictions with seeming ease and spontaneity. He has produced paintings for the greater part of his life that explore primarily the formal concerns of paint, tools and surfaces as they relate to the scale of the human body; while occasionally touching down to get blessed, tainted - or both - by the non-linear narrative of life. Friedman’s paintings pilot a plane that takes us from the ethereal to the earthly, on a ride that is neither past or present, but rather timeless, accessible, and transformatively escapist.