Hart Club launches art auction to raise funds for its exciting new summer school

Last weekHart Club, a community interest company created to support and champion neurodivergent artists, launched an online art auction to help raise funds for its new summer school. Founded in 2018 by Helen Ralli, Hart Club is composed of a gallery and a creative workshop that acts as an inclusive platform for neurodivergent artists seeking creative and financial recognition for their work. Always looking to expand its presence, Helen has recently begun fundraising for Hart School, a new “three month arts programme that is designed to be free, inclusive and accessible,” open to adults of all ages, “and prioritises those who are typically excluded from similar opportunities due to financial barriers and lack of specialised support for disabled artists.”

As part of the efforts to fund this new project, Hart Club is auctioning off a selection of amazing work by some of London’s most exciting artists, as well as a range of desirable experiences. These include pieces by fashion designer Sara Berman and mixed media artist Jane Bustin, as well as a workshop with clothing brand YMC’s lead designer and a private tour of the Dubuffet exhibition with Barbican curator Eleanor Nairne. The auction runs from 18 June to 11 July with all of the physical works being exhibited during that time at the Hart Club gallery in south London.

Alongside the auction, Hart Club has also organised other ways of helping to raise the funds such as:selling limited edition prints made in collaboration between students and established artists like Harley Weir and Babak Ganjei; creating limited edition prints for the Barbican spotlighting five organisations that they work with; running supper clubs throughout July; launching a new online store; and seeking donations from partners and individuals. Currently just over half way to their fundraising goal, Helen hopes these other initiatives will get them to the finish line.

If successful, Helen says the founding of the Hart School project will create an important space that is a “radically inclusive, non-hierarchical, collaborative learning environment that supports participants to develop confidence in their creative practice and centres the participants rather than the corporate agenda driving so many educational institutions today”.