Get Up Stand Up: Artists for Jamaica & Los Angeles

As climate-driven catastrophes intensify across the globe, the cultural community is called to respond with urgency and conviction. On February 26, 2026, during Frieze Los Angeles, TBA21 Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary joins CORE (Community Organized Relief Effort) as co-organizer of Get Up Stand Up: Artists for Jamaica & Los Angeles, a landmark benefit auction mobilizing the international art world in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and the Los Angeles wildfires.

Spearheaded collaboratively by TBA21 and CORE, the initiative brings together leading contemporary artists—including Henry Taylor, Hurvin Anderson, Hank Willis Thomas, and Alvaro Barrington—alongside Cecilia Bengolea, Claudia Comte, Tavares Strachan, Ludovic Nkoth, Ernesto Neto, Nari Ward, Alberta Whittle, and rising talents including Savannah Harris and Paul Anthony Smith.

The auction will launch with an in-person evening in Los Angeles led by renowned auctioneer Simon de Pury, before continuing online for two weeks via de-pury.com. Bidding opens exclusively on February 26, 2026, at 8 pm.

The Aim: From Solidarity to Sustained Recovery

100% of proceeds will directly support CORE’s long-term recovery efforts in Jamaica, Haiti, and Los Angeles, while strengthening CORE’s Emergency Response Fund to enable rapid, community-led responses to approximately twelve crises annually.

As co-organizer, TBA21 situates the auction within its broader mission to activate art as a driver of social and environmental transformation. The initiative underscores the capacity—and responsibility—of cultural actors to convert visibility into tangible impact.

Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza, Founder and Chairwoman of TBA21, states:

“As Hurricane Melissa devastated Jamaica last year and wildfires have ravaged Los Angeles, we are confronted with undeniable evidence that climate change is upon us, reshaping lives and landscapes with increasing force. I believe more than ever that art must stand up as a force of solidarity, imagination, and tangible change, and I am profoundly grateful to the artists whose generosity, through their works and their voices, helps support the reconstruction of communities and the renewal of people’s futures. I invite you to join us in Get Up Stand Up: Artists for Jamaica & Los Angeles, and to bid not only on extraordinary works, but on a future in which culture responds courageously to catastrophe with care, responsibility, and hope.”

The in-person event will convene an influential host committee including Alicia Keys and Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean; Sean Penn; Diplo; Jodie Turner-Smith; Winnie Harlow; collectors and patrons including Nicolas Berggruen and Lauren Taschen; gallerists Jeffrey Deitch, Marianne Boesky, Thaddaeus Ropac, Nicola Vassell and François Ghebaly; as well as cultural leaders including Franklin Sirmans and Sheryl Lee Ralph, among others.

Together, this cross-disciplinary coalition reflects the global reach of the initiative and the shared commitment to climate resilience and cultural solidarity.

Call to Action

Collectors, patrons, and members of the public are invited to:

• Attend the live auction event in Los Angeles on February 26 (tickets: $1,000; RSVP via getupstandup@purplepr.com)
• Bid online during the two-week sale on de-pury.com
• Support directly at donate.coreresponse.org/getupstandup

By participating, bidders acquire significant works by some of today’s most vital artists while directly contributing to long-term recovery and emergency preparedness.

Get Up Stand Up affirms that the art world possesses not only symbolic power, but operational capacity. Through decisive collaboration between TBA21 and CORE, artistic generosity is transformed into sustained, community-centered impact.

Explore the auction highlights HERE.