Artist Russell Young creates art with Laguna students for upcoming fundraiser

Julia Rodgers
Internationally-acclaimed pop artist and father of three, Russell Young is helping the young artists of Laguna Blanca School to create masterpieces for the school’s spring fundraising benefit on March 14. Young and his wife, Finola Hughes, a long-running star of the soap opera General Hospital, volunteered to help the children and have even provided all the paint and other supplies for the projects.

Auction chair Sherry Hlavaty, who attended the art classes where Young volunteered his time, said that she was excited to see such a famous artist take a hands-on role with the kids and their art projects, which range in style from Andy Warhol to Matisse to spin art.

“He has worked closely with each class and every student in guiding them through the process,” Hlavaty said. “He has demonstrated what to do and given them assistance if they needed more help. It was really fun to watch and the kids have so much fun with him!”

Each project will be 4x4 or bigger and each student will create their own piece to add to a collective large piece. “They are also made to be identifiable in nature -- so your kid can say 'that one is mine’,” said Hlavaty, who met with Young several times before he started working with the children to come up with a list of projects that would be popular auction items. 

The pieces are going to be sold in the silent auction at the Laguna spring benefit, “Laguna’s Party of the Year: A Celebration in the City,” and will help add to the Metropolitan Museum of Art theme. The spring benefit will be held on Saturday, March 14 at Bacara Resort & Spa;event tickets are still available. Each year, the benefit raises critical funds for the school and brings the community together to celebrate.

In case you are not aware of Young’s artwork, Laguna parent Gina Tollesonwrote the following biography of Young for Santa Barbara Magazine (it is reproduced here with her permission):

IF YOU’VE EVER WANTED TO SEE an artist in action, here’s your chance: Russell Young, russellyoung.com, has a live webcam streaming 24/7 in his Santa Barbara studio. A transplant from northern England, Young studied photography at Chester Art College and trained his lens on London’s club music scene (R.E.M., The Smiths, Bauhaus) before moving on to magazine and record company shoots and portraits of Morrissey, Björk, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen (to name just a few), ultimately landing at MTV in its heyday, where he directed a slew of music videos. For the past two decades, he’s focused on his art and is known for large-scale screen prints of iconic celebrity portraits he imbues with vivid color and luminous diamond dust. The truncated lives of several of his subjects (Marilyn Monroe, Sid Vicious, Kurt Cobain) evoke the darker side of fame, lending a serious edge to the undeniable beauty of his work. Exhibited in galleries worldwide, Young has collectors from Hollywood (Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie), the music world (Kanye West, David Bowie), and the fashion industry (Kate Moss, Marc Jacobs).
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