Combat Jack To Host 2016 Gold Rush Awards In Brooklyn

Next weekend, Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation will host the 2016 Gold Rush Awards at Brooklyn's Littlefield. RPAF founders and brothers, Russell, Daniel and Joseph (Rev Run) Simmons will be in attendance with Combat Jack lending his talents as master of ceremonies and DJ April Hunt on the ones and twos.

This year's honorees include curators Kimberly Drew and Lauren Haynes, along with artists Rashaad Newsome and Caledonia “SWOON” Curry(whose work will be on display in Littlefield through October 31st ) all acknowledged for their brilliance in respective fields. Through Chelsea's Rush Galleries, RPAF has championed countless curators and artists in their 21 years, and the awards will help raise funds for their artistic incubations.

The Gold Rush Awards will take place on October 22nd with ticket sales underway via Ticketfly. Below you will find a statement from Franklin Sirmans, Director of Miami's Perez Art Museum, testifying to the power of Rush Philanthropic and pledging his gratitude to its founders. 

"The RUSH family helped transform the conversation around visual art and the presence of artists of color in the 90s and 2000s. They helped set the stage for the successes of today while viewing the art and culture of people of color as a valuable resource that could transform communities. Setting up art galleries in Chelsea and Brooklyn, they paved the way for artists to create and show not only on the world stage of NYC’s west side but in the neighborhoods where so much of that important creativity was first born, where artists lived."