SUNDAY 23 AUG - TUESDAY 25 AUGUST 2015
opening Sunday 23 Aug, 2-4pm

Gallery hours for this event 10AM - 4PM

‘Artists for Nepal’ is an exhibition fundraiser occuring at Gallery 139, Beaumont St, Hamilton organised by Newcastle artist Ben Marcus Kenning in conjunction with Newcastle for Nepal to raise funds through the sale of donated art works from a large group of artists from Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne and from various locations overseas. Children's artworks created in response to the earthquakes will also be sent from Nepal to be auctioned to assist in raising funds for the Mitraata Foundation. 100% of proceeds will go directly to the aid effort in Nepal. 
http://www.mitrata.org/#&panel1-1

Newcastle for Nepal will be visiting Lantang, Mustang and the Everest regions of Nepal from October this year to assist those areas which have been most affected by the earthquakes. 
Newcastle for Nepal will be responding to the needs of these communities directly on the ground by empowering and supporting disadvantaged communities in Nepal to create sustainable, community led solutions that address shortages in housing, clean water, education and healthcare.

Ahn Wells, director of Gallery 139, Beaumont Street, Hamilton has generously offered use of her gallery space free of charge to host the event. Thanks Ahn! :D

The opening for the exhibition fundraiser will occur on
Sunday the 23rd of August between 2-4pm
Gallery hours will be 
Sunday 23rd Aug – Tue 25th Aug
10-4pm each day.
Food and wine will be provided with the local Nepalese community providing catering for the opening of the event.

Works will be sold via a silent auction. 
Artworks will be sold to the highest bid on an artwork which is equal to or higher than the reserve price specified by the artist for the work.
Bids can be made in person at Gallery 139 or will be viewable online via facebook, bids can be made by private messaging Newcastle for Nepal at the link shown below
https://www.facebook.com/newcastlefornepal?fref=ts

bidding on works will close at 4pm, Tue 25th Aug.

Individuals whose bids have been successful will be notified via telephone by 4pm Wed 26Aug. 
A list of artworks with the name of the successful bidder will also be made viewable on the ‘Artists for Nepal” event page on facebook by the same time.

So many talented and generous artists have responded to the callout to contribute to this fundraiser. Thank you all so much!

Please pop this event in youre calendar to come and see and maybe bid on some amazing artwork from a great cross section of local, national and international artists to help raise funds for a really important cause.

~  Ben Marcus Kenning

Art for Nepal builds rare mix of support, enthusiasm

By HELEN GREGORY
Aug. 20, 2015, 9:30 p.m. Newcastle Herald

Justin Bergholcs, left, and Ben Kenning with one of the powerful Nepali artworks. Picture: Max Mason-Hubers

NEPALESE women’s artwork, created in the aftermath of the country’s devastating earthquake, will be the centrepiece of an upcoming Hunter exhibition, which aims to raise funds to help rebuild the developing nation.

The six women’s 12 works will be on display at Hamilton’s Gallery 139 as part of the Artists For Nepal exhibition, which will also feature about 40 donated works from 30 artists from the Hunter, Australia and as far away as Stuttgart.

Kahibah artist Ben Kenning came up with the idea for the exhibition after attending a Newcastle For Nepal fundraising film night in June and meeting one of the organisation’s founders, Justin Bergholcs.

‘‘I’m an artist myself and know lots of artists from within the community and having those sorts of relationships I thought, this is something I can do to help raise funds,’’ Mr Kenning said.

‘‘Most artists have multiple works around and are generous sorts of people, so this is putting those two things together and helping them make a difference.

‘‘In the end, we had so many people wanting to participate we had to turn some away.

‘‘It’s very rare to have this mix of local, national and international artists altogether in one curated exhibition.’’

The works, which include photography, mixed media, paintings and sculptures, will be photographed and posted on Newcastle For Nepal’s Facebook and Instagram accounts.

Mr Bergholcs said viewers would be asked to post their bid under photographs of the works, similar to a silent auction.

All funds raised will be added to the $12,500 the organisation has already sent to the Mitrataa Foundation, which is empowering and educating Nepali women and children helping with the relief effort.

The foundation recently supplied materials for bamboo shelters and trained people to construct the structures and pass their skills on to others.