At last night’s A Bid to Save the Earth Green Auction at Christie’s, a star-studded crowd gathered to place bids on once-in-a-lifetime experiences and contemporary art pieces, with profits going to four top NGOs: Conservation International, Oceana, Natural Resources Defense Council and the Central Park Conservancy.
In addition to stars of stage and screen including Salma Hayek, Miranda Kerr, Ted Danson and others, fashion royalty filed in through the green carpet, including Barneys New York’s Julie Gilhart, who worked in conjunction with Loomstate to create organic cotton tees to benefit the causes. There were more than a few green cocktail dresses throughout the crowd, but then, the party featured pops of green everywhere, from cocktail napkins to a fern-festooned DJ booth.
Prior to the auction, guests indulged in deluxe canapés from haute locavore resto Rouge Tomate, including local asparagus with Maine crab, Long Island duck pâté and Vermont goat cheese-stuffed dates. But what really got people excited? “Raising a crapload of money for Oceana!” said Ted Danson of the charity he champions. “Let’s be honest, that’s why we’re here. Raising a little awareness but also supporting our staff around the world who are doing this amazing work.”
Also a big fan of Oceana is Law & Order‘s Sam Waterston. “Ted introduced me to Oceana’s Dr. Daniel Pauly, who told me things about the world I grew up in, which is the coast of New England, that I didn’t know. I was blissfully ignorant. I thought the plenty that I grew up with was still there. And I was shocked, because I read the newspapers and I thought I’d be up to date at least on my neighborhood, but we haven’t been kept informed. The result is we’ve been ignoring the obvious and we’ve got to get busy.”
What can celebs do to be green? Salma Hayak starts at a grassroots level. “Right now the greenest thing I’m doing is teaching Valentina not to waste water, and make her understand the value of it,” she said of her two-and-a-half year old daughter. “That’s the hardest to do because she loves water. She wants to play with water all the time.”
And while everyone was in accord that the environment is the night’s raison d’être, even the rich and famous couldn’t help but feel a little awestruck to be in the hallowed halls of Christie’s. “I just love auctions!” said Sex and the City‘s Willie Garson. “It’s great because it says that thinking about the environment happens on all levels. It’s telling that an organization like Christies, which seems so fancy and over-the-top, is involved. And my son, who’s using a recyclable cup is also involved. It’s for everyone and that’s a really great thing,” Garson said, before his sightlines migrated to the English Bull Terrier with Target’s logo painted around one of its eyes. “I’m staring at the Target dog though, which is freaking me out. I’m terrified of the Target dog,” he laughed.
With three of the pieces of jewelry she designed for Oceana accessorizing her outfit glimmering in the flashbulbs, Sue Cohn Rockefeller, co-chair of the event, made her way through the crowd. “This is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and we really need to propel the agenda,” said Ms. Rockefeller, who, along with her husband David Rockefeller, Jr., offered up a day on their boat off the coast of Maine in the auction. “We have serious problems that are overwhelming and we need to learn to work together. We have these four nonprofit organizations coming together for the first time to raise money, to share information and be visionary, using the arts and vision of Christie’s.”
She used her art-world expertise to work in cahoots with Toby Usnik, VP and international head of corporate communications for Christie’s, to organize the event. “It was Toby’s brainchild and I thought the idea was brilliant because these nonprofit organizations really live in their silos and we need to have them work together and collaborate,” said Rockefeller.
Everyone agrees that collaboration amongst NGOs is crucial. “We’ve got such a huge job,” said Conservation International Chairman and CEO Peter Seligmann. “We all have to be Team Earth, and that’s really what we NGOs have to do together. We also have to engage the public so we have people power working for Team Earth. We’ve got to involve companies so they say it’s not about my territory, it’s about a shared commitment with other companies too. I believe the collaboration is essential — we cannot afford to be inefficient or ineffective.”
The earth-centric cocktail chatter was silenced for the main event, the 21-lot live auction to benefit the causes. Over 600 bidders gathered in the auction hall, where emcee Chevy Chase, who, along with his wife Jayni, has worked to help the environment through the Green Schools Initiative, took the stage to keep everyone laughing throughout the auction. When speaking about the funds to be raised, he assured the crowd: “Your money will be used wisely and productively! No junkets to Las Vegas or Atlantic City. Though Aspen and the Galapagos will be fine,” he said semi-deadpan.
Chase, in tandem with legendary auctioneer Christopher Burge, went through the items up on the block, which ranged from 18 holes of golf with President Bill Clinton (not surprisingly one of the evening’s top earners at $80,000) and a photography lesson and nine-day trip to Botswana with National Geographic Editor in Chief Chris Johns to artworks by David LaChapelle and Olafur Eliasson — the latter of which was held up in the artist’s native Iceland due to recent volcanic ash-related travel restrictions. The live auction raised over $1.3 million when all was said and done.
“Bid generously. Keep going to the bar!” urged Burge. Following a call-out for paddle-raising $5000 donations to benefit shark research by Oceana, Chevy chided the crowd to encourage the bidding, “$5000? I have that in my underpants!”
Regardless how much money you have in your underpants, visit the companion silent auction, now through Thursday, May 6, at ABidtoSavetheEarth.org and find out how you can get involved to help these crucial causes by donating your money, time and/or effort to save the planet. Christie’s, located in Rockefeller Center, is neighbor to NBC Universal, their official media sponsor. NBC is celebrating Earth Week with special programming and coverage of the event as part of their ongoing Green is Universal campaign.
Photos by Nick Hunt/Patrick McMullan/courtesy of Christies.