Artist Ross Bleckner will receive GLAAD’s first Out in Art Award. Ross Bleckner, as an openly gay artist, drew from

personal loss during the AIDS crisis in his work, earning him the title of the Greatest AIDS Memorialist. He is also on the board of AIDS Community Research Initiative of America and a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador. His works are held in collections around the world including: The Museum of Modern Art NY, Museum of Contemporary Art LA, Astrup Fearnley Museet, Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, and the Whitney Museum of American Art NY.

“GLAAD is excited to honor Ross Bleckner, who has helped expand LGBT visibility in the art world, with an inaugural award,” said Jarrett Barrios, President of GLAAD. “We are also proud to once again showcase the works of LGBT and ally artists at this year’s OUTAuction NYC.”

Emerging artists participated in a call for submissions, and those who were chosen as the Top 100 were reviewed by OUTAuction NYC 2009’s Arts Advisory Committee which includes: Harold Koda (Curator in charge, Costume Institute, The Metropolitan Museum of Art), Joel Wachs, Jaclyn Acker and Andy Fligel (Chelsea Frames), Patrick Amsellem, Clodagh, Brian English (Herb Ritts Foundation), Wayne Snellen (The Leslie Lohman Gay Art Foundation), Amy Levin, Daneyal Mahmood, Edward Mapplethorpe, Patrick McMullan, Gayil Nalls, Oliver Newton, Irene Shum Allen (Collections Manager & Curator / Philip Johnson, Glass House, National Trust for Historic Preservation), Robert Risko, Billy O’Connor (Wessel+O’Connor Fine Art), Matthew Higgs (White Columns), and John Robert Wiltgen. All artists will have their pieces displayed in OUTAuction NYC’s silent auction and will be eligible for the GLAAD Best Emerging Artist Awards in three categories: Mixed Media, Painting/ Drawing and Photography. They will join last year’s winners: Troy Dunham & Jeff Eason, Komail Ajazudddin, and Dragana Zoric. To view a complete list of this year’s artists please visit http://www.glaad.org/outauction2009. Attendees to 2009’s OUTAuction NYC can bid in a live auction featuring Herb Ritt’s Madonna I,II, III, Miami 1992; Joan Miro’s Composition I, 1970; and Wassily Kandinsky’s Accompagnement en Noir, 1960. Tickets for the event can be purchased at the 8th Annual OUTAuction NYC Website (www.glaad.org/outauction2009). General tickets are $125, VIP tickets are $175, and Group VIP tickets are $300. We hope to see you there at one of the fall’s hottest events!