Silver Art Gala

Help make the season merry and bright by celebrating Silver Art Projects – the premier residency for visual artists in New York City. Since our inception in 2019, we've hosted nearly 100 artists for a year-long studio experience to help them realize their creative and professional dreams. We platform artists whose lives have been impacted by the justice system or marginalized by forces in contemporary society.  What's more, we offer them these studios at no cost to them. Better yet, we do this in the most inspiring place to make visionary work – the 28th floor of 4 World Trade Center. The results of the program are impressive. Residents boast a track record which stands head and shoulders above other residency program. Simply put, they're showing work at and being represented by some of the most celebrated galleries, museums, and art collections in the world. 

The first annual SILVER ART GALA will introduce patrons to the incredible journeys of our artists. To this end, we are honoring the legacy of The Art for Justice Fund – one of Silver Art's most faithful supporters. The Art for Justice (A4J) Fund aligns artists, advocates, and allied donors to transform the criminal legal system and create awareness and empathy, envisioning a future where shared safety is available to all. Through the work of its grantee partners, the Fund seeks to end mass incarceration and shift the narrative around criminal justice reform through art. Inaugurated in 2017 under the philanthropic vision of Agnes Gund, A4J launched with $100M generated from the sale of Gund’s favorite painting, Roy Lichtenstein’s Masterpiece (1962). This spurred artists, collectors, and supporters to donate an additional $27M in support of the Fund’s mission to advance policy reform, shift public narratives on criminal justice, and promote the leadership of formerly incarcerated people while centering art as a catalyst to propel change. With institutional support from the Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, A4J provided over 450 grants to nearly 200 artists, advocates, and organizations. When this 6-year time-limited fund ended as planned in June, 2023, it had gifted over $127M and secured impactful policy, practice, and narrative change towards ending mass incarceration. For more about the work of Art for Justice, please see: http://artforjusticefund.org.

In addition, we are proud to also honor artist, activist, and dedicated Silver Art supporter, Hank Willis Thomas.

Proceeds from the Silver Art Gala will go to underwrite individual artist experiences and programming at our residency. Platinum sponsors will have a studio at 4 World Trade Center named after them, and will be able to engage with the trajectory of the artists in the program over the course of a year.

For more information about Silver Art Projects, please visit: www.silverart.org.

For questions about the Silver Art Gala, please write Executive Director Gregory Thornbury at: gthornbury@silverart.org.