100 Artists Auction for The Orchid Foundation to Support Black Girls' College Fund

The Orchid Foundation, a mentoring program for promising Black teenage girls from low-income families founded by actress Nichole Galicia (known for Django Unchained), is launching a charity auction involving 100 artists. The initiative, called 100 Artists for The Orchid Foundation, was organized by Chilean-American visual artist Virginia Inés Vergara after the foundation's annual fundraiser was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Proceeds will create a college fund for eight girls in the program. Italian artist Beatrice Scaccia, based in New York, was among the first to donate three works and helped recruit other Italian artists including Luisa Rabbia, Francesco Simeti, Verdiana Patacchini, Valentina D'Amaro, Debora Hirsch, and organizer Ludovica Capobianco. The auction runs from September 9 to 13, 2020, as the inaugural event on the new art sales platform VU, founded by Tim Malyk, former senior specialist for postwar and contemporary art at Phillips. Featured artists include Kim Dingle, Liliana Porter, Alfredo Jaar, and Leonardo Drew. The auction aims to address racial inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic, which disproportionately affected the Black community in the US.