Out on the 96th Street beach in the Rockaways on Wednesday, over a dozen New York artists donned swim trunks and painted en plein air to benefit Smallwater, a local community building charity established in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, in an event organized by the New Art Dealers Alliance. Daniel Heidkamp turned in a shimmering portrait of Bridget Finn, co-owner of Cleopatra’s gallery in Greenpoint, lounging on a beach towel; Chuck Webster’s abstract piece, seemingly modeled on the parachute tent that the artists gathered beneath, was adorned with the word “ROCKAWAYS,” written in reverse. Talia Schulze’s canvas featured a red bikini bottom and an anonymous midriff, plus half a breast and a nipple — not modeled on anyone’s anatomy in particular, she said, but rather a sort of “Ur-nipple.”
Ellen Altfest set up a camp a bit further down the beach, beginning a realistic depiction of a few pieces of weathered wood jutting out of the sand. While none of the art got too outré or conceptual, a piece by Jeffrey Tranchell pushed the boundaries a bit: A dazzlingly decorated empty frame ornamented with one of the red safety marker flags dotting the beach.
These works — along with canvases by Tyson and Scott Reeder, who helped organize the group of artists, Gina Beavers, and others — will be auctioned off in mid-September at a to-be-determined Manhattan location. The money will go toward further community programming and events hosted by Smallwater, which from its post-Sandy early initiative to provide food and necessary staples to Rockaways residents has since morphed into a broader DIY institution handling outreach and education.
To see photos from the NADA beach painting party, click on the slideshow.