Artists design plate collection for the homeless

A range of artists have collaborated to design limited-edition plates for the Coalition for the Homeless charity, based in New York City

Spotted: The Artist Plate Project consists of 50 artists putting together designs for a series of dinner plates, which will be sold to raise money for both homeless New Yorkers and those facing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 crisis. 

The charity launched the initiative after the Artwalk NY annual gala and auction was cancelled due to the pandemic, as a way to keep on raising funds for the vulnerable at such a time.

The plate was the specific form of crockery chosen, as a representation of comfort, nourishment and the home. Artists involved include Ed Ruscha, Jenny Holzer, Rashid Johnson, Lawrence Weiner, Sarah Sze, and Adam Pendleton, and the plates are made up of both new and repurposed designs. One notable design includes the words ‘negro sunshine’, taken from Melanctha, a novella from Gertrude Stein’s 1909 collection, Three Lives. 

America’s oldest advocacy and direct service organisation for the homeless, Coalition for the Homeless, have been fighting to protect these vulnerable members of society who might otherwise have been overlooked due to the pandemic, with medical attention, shelter, warmth and food, especially during the winter months.

The charity have declared that each plate could feed 75 homeless people, and therefore each plate design is one of 175, to be bought at $175 (€145). The range will be available until the 15th December 2020.

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