$500K raised for Ukraine Red Cross from Park West Gallery's auction telecast

Southfield Park West Gallery raises $500K for Ukraine Red Cross

Half a million dollars over the course of the weekend going to the Ukrainian Red Cross - a good portion of their nearly $2 million weekend. Auctioneer Cole Waters said people were eager to help.

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (FOX 2) - A big part of a Southfield museum and gallery's online art auction was held to help the people of Ukraine. The Park West Gallery has now raised $500,000 from its telecast this past weekend.

"This is an atrocity beyond our imagination - it's tearing people apart," said Albert Scaglione.

Scaglione is the founder and CEO of Park West - using art to aid in war.

"I think it's our fight - it's the world's fight," he said. "We can't let a dictatorship, we can't let a czar, we can't let a king, we can't let an emperor, a despot, a crazy guy - do that."

And so the show this past weekend featured artists from Romania, Estonia, and Ukraine. Like the artwork of Anatole Krasnyansky - originally from Kyiv.

"This painting was sold for $26,000," he said. "I wanted people to get connected to that art - and it worked. They really got connected - so this is the art I'm giving 100 percent of the proceeds."

Plus, close to 20 limited prints of a Mark Kostabi painting sold for $2,600 each. All of that money - added up.

"Providing immediate help in the form of dollars to the Ukrainian Red Cross - over half a million for sure," he said.

Half a million dollars over the course of the weekend going to the Ukrainian Red Cross - a good portion of their nearly $2 million weekend. Auctioneer Cole Waters said people were eager to help.

"You feel helpless and that's the part of it that's such a challenge," Waters said.

Yet they hope somehow - with this effort - the beauty of art can battle the horror of war,

"I've not seen this much engagement from our collectors," he said. "We had collectors this week from Australia, Canada - all throughout the United States and it was just constant feedback around the clock."

"Not just presenting artwork and introducing new artists - to our collectors, but doing something much bigger than that," he said. "Over $500,000 raised for the Red Cross Ukraine."