Online Art Auction to Benefit The Umbrella

Concord, MA – June 3, 2020 - On the heels of its free, star-studded Stand by Me virtual gala and award ceremony, The Umbrella Arts Center has announced the launch of a new online benefit auction of paintings by internationally exhibited artist, Andy Newman.

Newman's work embraces figures, landscape, and abstract. He is represented by galleries in England, France, Italy, Portugal and Canada, as well as several in the United States.

A prominent fixture at The Umbrella and in the broader Concord community, Newman has worked out of a studio at The Umbrella for more than 20 years. In 2018 he was featured in the exhibition, Parallel Paths, with his husband, writer Gregory Maguire, and was subject of a cover story, "There's No Place Like Home," in the winter edition of Discover Concord Magazine.

"I cannot overstate what a privilege it is to work in such a nurturing environment, embedded in a community of exceptional artists," Newman said in an artist's statement for the auction.

When Covid-19 forced The Umbrella to abruptly halt what was to have been a banner year of grand-reopenings after a major, multiyear renovation project, Newman was moved to support the hard-hit organization.

"These exceptionally difficult times have been as challenging to The Umbrella as a collective as to each of us as individuals," Newman said. "No classes, no theater productions, no studio activity; in effect just about no income" at a moment when the Center needed income more than ever.

Newman had previously contributed 30 paintings to an auction benefiting people dispossessed after Hurricane Katrina, and decided to similarly donate a mix of large and small works to support The Umbrella. Paintings will be available for viewing and bidding through 10PM on June 30, 2020, TheUmbrellaArts.org/Newman.