Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel, Robert Williams and More: Auction Benefits Surfers Healing

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Damien Hirst, Julian Schnabel, Rob English and Robert Williams are among the artists donating surfboards decorated with their artwork to benefit Surfers Healing in a bi-coastal exhibition beginning November 19 and running through December 31, 2014. In New York, the surfboards will on display as The Bowery Project at the Patagonia store in the Bowery, New York, while the Ritz Carleton Laguna Niguel in Dana Point, CA is hosting the exhibition of local emerging  artists’ boards.

Online auctioning begins November 22nd. All bidding comes to a close on December 31st. On November 19 you can visit biddingforgood.com/surfershealing to view the all boards and place your bids. Patagonia will be hosting a reception event for the collection in the store Wednesday, December 10.

This is the seventh year for the event and the first time that the auction has been held on two coasts. Surfers Healing was founded by former competitive surfer Israel Paskowitz and his wife Danielle. At age three, their son Isaiah was diagnosed with autism. After seeing the profound impact surfing had on Isaiah, Israel and Danielle decided they wanted to share this unique therapy with other autistic children. They began to host day camps at the beach where autistic children and their families could be exposed to a completely new experience of surfing. Since then, the camps have benefited thousands of children.

Surfers Healing is directly connected to Cartwheel Arts founder Cindy Schwarzstein. Her son Spencer, who is on the autism spectrum, has attended Surfers Healing camps eleven years. Surfers Healing holds camps in nine states, plus Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico. All camps are staffed and facilitated by volunteers and are free to attendees.

Each year, Surfers Healing asks a select list of artists to create one-of-a-kind boards to be auctioned off at a benefit event. The boards for the Bowery Project were curated by Seth Harris, who drew from a wide range of makers working in a variety of mediums—from graphic design to fashion design; sculpture to painting. The roster includes some of the most respected artists and designers working today.

Ben Eine, De la Haba, Michael Torquato DeNicola, Damien Hirst, Dana Louise Kirkpatrick, Relax, Tom Sachs, Julian Schnabel, and 2×4, have created unique art directly on the surfboards, while Michael Dwek, Ron English, Kevin T. Kelly, Len Prince, and Robert Williams have donated unique boards produced from previously completed artwork.

To learn more about Surfers Healing, check out this Turning Point documentary after the artwork which features families, including Cindy and her son Spencer, and shows the benefits of surfing for children affected with autism.

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Robert Williams

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Ron English

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