We are representing Miss Porter's School, a Connecticut private college preparatory school for girls, in its negotiations of a consignment agreement for the first-ever all-women artist benefit auction at Sotheby's, titled By Women, For Tomorrow's Women. The auction will be both live and online, and the live auction is being held on March 1, 2019.
By Women, For Tomorrow's Women is supported by Oprah Winfrey and Agnes Gund as Honorary Co-Chairs, with proceeds from the auction to go to financial aid for Miss Porter's.
By Women, For Tomorrow's Women features modern and contemporary works of over 25 female artists. The headlining piece will be a 1966-67 Carmen Herrera painting, Blanco y Verde, which was donated by Co-Chair Agnus Gund, a 1956 alumni of Miss Porter's. Additional featured artists include Cecily Brown, Pat Steir, Jenny Holzer, Carrie Mae Weems, Roni Horn and Ghada Amer.
The auction will be presented as part of the 175th anniversary of Miss Porter's, which was established in 1843 to educate women to become informed, bold, resourceful global citizens. Its educational programs focus on articulating how young women think, how they learn, and why gender education matters, and graduates are expected to shape the changing world they live in as future female leaders.
Withers also assisted Miss Porter's on the donor-side regarding deeds of gifts for works of art provided by artists, galleries and individuals.
Diana Wierbicki, global head of Withers' art law practice, says, "We are honored to be part of a groundbreaking benefit auction with such an inspiring cause. As the leader of a team with a women majority, I am proud to support Miss Porter's School's mission of educating women to become future leaders. We are happy to see that Withers was able to leverage the legal expertise of both its art and charities teams to help Miss Porter's."
The Withers team was led by Diana Wierbicki and included Amanda Rottermund and Sarah Verano, associates in the art law team, and Paul Roy, of counsel of the charities and philanthropy team.
