Last month, we talked about Rusty Zimmerman’s Free Portrait Project, which involves him painting up to 200 oil portraits of his Crown Heights neighbors over one year. It’s a cool idea, because hey, who doesn’t want a fancy oil portrait of themselves done for free buy a noted professional painter? Whether you’re hoping to get a fancy picture or you just want to help people get theirs, you can give the project a boost on Friday at an art auction that benefits the effort.
Since we first mentioned the Free Portrait Project, Zimmerman has raised almost $6,000 for his efforts, but he’s going to need $44,000 to complete the whole project. This is a project that should happen, so you can help out at Shoestring Press Friday night at 7pm a silent art auction and benefit full of affordable art and affordable booze.
The free benefit will have over 70 pieces of artwork, with some of them starting at just $25 dollars. Other artists featured in the benefit include illustrator Victor Juhasz, Anita Kunz, who has contributed cover to The New Yorker and many more. If you are a resident of Crown Heights, this is a good opportunity to meet the artist himself and make a case for yourself, or someone you know to be one of his muses for the project. Even if you just come for the artwork, you can enjoy it with booze being supplied by the Brooklyn Brewery and free performances from local artists Amos Rose, Mary Leigh Roohan and more.
If you can’t make it out Friday, you can also contribute to the project, directly at its Indiegogo page