‘Tis the season for gifting and, this year, many charitable organizations need help more than ever. So while you’re shopping for presents for all the loved ones in your life, perhaps consider buying something from one of these eight worthy benefit sales and help a good cause at the same time.

James Hyman Gallery Fundraiser for the Trussell Trust

Zanele Muholi, Miss D’Vine 2 (2007). £12,500. Image courtesy of James Hyman Gallery.

Collectors James and Claire Hyman have donated 70 works to this online charity fundraiser for the Trussell Trust, which supports a UK network of food banks. Works by artists including Tacita Dean, Zanele Muholi, and Wolfgang Tillmans will be available at discounted prices, with 50 percent of the proceeds going to the trust.

Dates: Through December 31

Prices: Ranging from £150 for a limited-edition book of Linda McCartney photographs to £35,000 for a large-scale copper sculpture by Zhang Huan.

—Naomi Rea

Art for Black Lives

Kalup Linzy, Breena’s DNA (2020). Fine art digital print, Edition of 10 + 3AP. Courtesy Art for Black Lives.

Now in its third edition, the charity Art for Black Lives offers limited-run A4 artist prints by a diverse and intergenerational group of artists. One hundred percent of the proceeds after shipping and production is transferred directly to one of two charities benefiting the Black trans community. Since launching this summer, $53,000 has been raised for these causes, with artists including Nora Turato, Laurie Simmons, Tony Just, and Raymond Pettibon participating by donating works for the project. 

Complete sets of artist prints from previous rounds are available (for those who might want a chance at some of works that sold out already). And there are some excellent options available from the most recent iteration, which launched earlier this month. Take LA-based artist Edgar Arcenaux’s searing new work Rage, which was inspired by an interview with the cast of The Avengers, in which Samuel Jack mistook the word “inward” for the n–word. Proceeds from this round benefit the Frances Thompson Education Foundation.

Dates: Ongoing

Price: Individual works range from $300 to $750. Complete print sets, including 18 artist prints, are $7,000 to $10,000.

—Kate Brown

Art Fund’s Emergency Aid

Lubaina Himid, The Blanket of Reasonable Luxury (2020). Limited-edition signed print, from a painting made especially for the #TogetherForMuseums campaign. Courtesy of Art Fund.

Lockdown has severely limited museums’ incomes this year, and the UK museums and galleries charity Art Fund is raising emergency aid for museum projects around the country. Several artists have donated works to incentivize donations that can be made online, from a set of tea towels designed by David Shrigley to a limited-edition signed print by Lubaina Himid.

Dates: Through February 2

Prices: Artist incentives are available starting at donations of £15 for a Supermundane Hope patch to £4,000 for a limited-edition signed print by Anish Kapoor.

—Naomi Rea

UN Women UK’s COVID Response Fund

Lakwena Maciver, Life You Higher ( 2020).

The United Nations organization UN Women UK is fundraising for its Covid Response Fund, which is helping to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic on women. The artist Lakwena Maciver has created a series of editions of a stitched fabric work called Lift You Higher especially for the cause.

Dates: Until the editions of 30, plus two artist proofs, sell out

Price: £3,000

—Naomi Rea

NIAD Art Center: Holiday Exhibition and Closing of the Year

An untitled drawing by NIAD artist Saul Alegria. Photo by Tim Schneider.

To delight anyone on your gift list drawn to untrained artists, consider the unique works available online from California’s NIAD Art Center. NIAD (Nurturing Independence Through Artistic Development) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting artists with disabilities by providing the resources and mentorship to help them grow personally and creatively, including through in-studio education and gallery visits. Half the proceeds of every sale goes directly to the work’s creator, while the other half funds the continued operation of the art center. 

Dates: Through December 30

Price: Ranging from $20 to $1,800

—Tim Schneider

“Ice and Fire”: A Benefit Exhibition in Three Parts

Wade Guyton, Untitled (2020).
Photo: Ron Amstutz. Courtesy of the artist and Petzl, New York.

New York art and performance venue The Kitchen is celebrating a half-century of presenting cutting-edge artists and musicians. Now on view is the second of three installations of a benefit show, this one featuring artists ranging from John Armleder and Tony Cokes to Christopher Wool and Anicka Yi. Proceeds go to a renovation of the organization’s 19th Street home. Check it out at the Kitchen’s website.

Dates: Through January 2021

Prices: Available upon request.

—Brian Boucher

Going Postal Gallery: Exhibition for The Art of Elysium

A set of “Divine Delirium” postcards from Going Postal Gallery. Courtesy of Going Postal Gallery.

True to its name, Brooklyn’s Going Postal Gallery curates mini exhibitions by mail, reproducing works by emerging artists into sets of limited-edition postcards. The profit from every set sold benefits a nonprofit cause, with the beneficiary organization cycling in tandem with each show. 

“Divine Delirium,” the venture’s inaugural exhibition, features works about losing yourself and finding the sublime. Going Postal is funneling the proceeds to the Art of Elysium, which holds community-based programs that pair volunteer artists with individuals seeking solace from hardships such as illness and housing displacement. 

Dates: Through January 31, 2021

Price: $25 per set

—Tim Schneider

Limited-Edition Collection to Support Black Rock Senegal

Kehinde Wiley, Sharrod Hosten Study III (2002). Photo courtesy of Sean Kelly Gallery.

The artist Kehinde Wiley has teamed up with his New York gallery, Sean Kelly, to present a sale of artworks and objects wherein all the proceeds go to Black Rock Senegal, the artist-in-residence program Wiley established in Dakar in 2019. Available for purchase is a signed one-of-30 limited edition print of Sharrod Hosten Study III (2002), as well as a scarf and a beach towel that both feature iconic Kehinde Wiley paintings.

Dates: While supplies last.

Prices: A print will set you back $15,000, and a scarf is $350, but a notecard set of Wiley’s flora notecards is available for the much more reasonable $24.50.

—Nate Freeman