For three years in a row, Malibu residents Dick and Elsa Gary have organized the “Artworks for The Cure” fundraiser on behalf of the T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer and AIDS Research.
“[The Martell Foundation] is considered the unofficial charity of the music business, and is heavily supported by it,” Dick Gary said. “We created it in an effort to have a fun charity event that people actually wanted to go to, and art seemed a strong attraction.”
The first two events were held at Bergamot Station and raised approximately $500,000. Last year the Garys moved it to the much larger Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport, and after enlisting the participation of 152 artists as well as honorees such as Malibu resident Rob Wells, president of Universal Music’s Global Digital Business, were able to raise more than $1 million.
The three-day long charity event includes the exhibition, auction and sale of contemporary art. “Artworks for The Cure” art has been described by reviewers as “offbeat, eclectic and sometimes irreverent,” with cutting edge works from painters, sculptors, photographers and mixed media artists from around the globe, including street art, surf/skate/ snowboard art, low-rider cars, photos of graffiti art from the Berlin Wall, rock photography and 3-D chalk art.
The T.J. Martell Foundation originated when T.J. Martell, the son of Tony Martell, a record label executive, contracted terminal leukemia at age 17. T.J. asked his dad to raise a million dollars for research so that others would have a better chance at life.
“Tony heard him loud and clear,” Gary said, and formed the Foundation in T.J.’s honor.
Since 1975, the foundation… has raised more than $260 million for early stage “angel research into the causes, treatments and cures for cancer, leukemia and aids.”