Salman Toor
Undressing Boy, 2024
Loved by the Sun: Queer Artists for the Ali Forney Center
Organized by Stephen Truax
September 27, 2024
Sotheby’s New York
Contemporary Curated Auction
In September 2024, Loved by the Sun: Queer Artists for the Ali Forney Center at Sotheby’s New York sold over $373,000 (including fees) to benefit the Ali Forney Center.
“As someone who has traveled across cultures from a society where people like us are bullied and marginalized, my heart goes out to homeless LGBTQIA+ youths. For me, this is the most meaningful cause to contribute to.”
— Salman Toor
Sotheby’s Contemporary Curated Auction is honored to partner with Truax Art Advisory and Stephen Truax to present Loved by the Sun: Queer Artists for the Ali Forney Center, a selection of works sold to benefit the Ali Forney Center, a not-for-profit that serves L.G.B.T.Q. youth in New York City.
Six significant primary market artworks have been donated from the studios of leading contemporary artists, including Katherine Bradford, Doron Langberg, Chris Martin, Justin Liam O’Brien, Ilana Savdie, and Salman Toor. This presentation represents an extraordinary opportunity to buy examples of the most coveted artists’ work, and to support the vital work of the Ali Forney Center.
Committed to saving the lives of LGBTQ young people, the Ali Forney Center offers a beacon of hope for the next generation of queer-identified youth. From the Center’s mission statement: “Our goal at the Ali Forney Center is to not only provide food, water, and shelter. Our goal is to transform the lives of these young people so that they may reclaim their lives and never live on the streets again.”
The exhibition is organized by Stephen Truax of Truax Art Advisory, and is the second collaboration between queer-identified artists and Sotheby’s to provide a lifeline to homeless LGBTQ youth and the Ali Forney Center. Last year’s presentation raised over $350,000 in crucial funds to support the Center’s vital work.
Founded in 2002 in memory of the late Ali Forney, (a homeless gender-nonconforming youth who was forced to live on the streets, where they were tragically murdered in 1997), the Ali Forney Center in New York City offers housing and services to over 2,000 homeless queer youth, providing food, shelter, access to education, job readiness training, and medical services, therapy, art therapy, as well as a new 24-hour drop in center, where young people can be safe and together during the day, among many other life-saving resources.
The agency has grown from 6 beds in the basement of a church providing a safe space to rest to a wrap-around agency that provides direct services and all of the support necessary for young people to build an independent life.
As the largest agency providing support to LGBTQ youth experiencing homelessness, the Ali Forney Center has a national and international scope, providing capacity building and model replication support to agencies and activists around the world.