“The Art Affair" event held on August 20th, 2023 was one of a kind event for Saheli and a wonderfully refreshing social gala for the Boston Community and beyond. This event, which we now call a signature event of Saheli was envisioned in 2021 with a lot of creative effort invested back then. However, due to the pandemic and limitations on public gatherings, this could not be held at that time and was finally launched with panache in 2023.

For over 25 years, Saheli has been instrumental in helping numerous families rebuild their lives and break free from fear and abuse.  Saheli’s comprehensive services including mental health counseling, support groups, housing and legal assistance have made a significant impact for the betterment of lives of more than 300 women and 350 children annually.

The objective of The Art Affair is to raise funds to support Saheli with this cause and reach out to the broader community through the medium of art. Art is a universal medium that appeals to large sections of the community, and we all know that Boston is the national hub and melting pot of great and diverse artistic talent.

The driving force behind this event was The Art Affair committee comprising of some Board members, the interim ED- Priya Murali and some Saheli Staff members, spearheaded by Ruchika Yadav (Board member and Treasurer of Saheli), and supported by Neelam Wali (the President of Saheli). The Art Committee handpicked about 20 artists from the local community and chose some spectacular pieces to be showcased for a public auction at the event, all for the cause of Saheli.

Neelam Wali, Saheli President " We have opened a window for our South Asian Artists and beyond to showcase the richness of color and creativity that is vibrant and thoughtful” She says, “this event was more of a community outreach and engagement. Connecting and encouraging the artist of color to showcase their contribution to the cause of Saheli. We at Saheli will keep on adding more ideas to help our community and survivors. Thanks ~ Ruchika Yadav, Treasurer of Saheli”

Please reach out to us if you can help us in any way

info@saheliboston.org or to our  Interim ED Priya@saheliboston.org

The Artists

The Art Affair Committee laid out a delightfully crafted program on the Sunday afternoon of August 20^th with a great line up of art display for auction, complete with live bands featuring the “Orchid Reed” from students alumni of esteemed Berklee College of Music and “Kadak chai” a very popular Bollywood fusion band to ignite foot tapping and perfect to dance and groove music to any place and any time, wine and cheese, delectable hors d’oeuvres and exciting raffle tickets tagged with generously donated gift baskets from the Saheli Board members. The art style was diverse ranging from mixed multimedia art, digital art, textile art, oil and acrylics and sculptures from some well-known and some not so well-known, unsung artists in the community.

The event was inaugurated by the long-time friends and supporters of Saheli- the dynamic duo of Vandana and Vivek Sharma.  This couple has come to be known as a powerhouse to promote entrepreneurs, creative talent, and philanthropy in the Boston community and beyond.  Vandana Tiwari Sharma graciously lit a lamp to commence the program and delivered a beautiful message for the audience to reflect hers and her husband’s thoughts for support for Saheli.

The shining green resplendent light that signifies Saheli enveloped the beautiful venue- The Academy of Creative Arts in Burlington, MA is an 18000 sq. ft of flexible space which was converted into a museum style art gallery ready to welcome over 200 guests along with Saheli staff and Board members. Besides the display of art using “pipe and drape” technique, the spectacular multi pixel 108" screen and projector were used to showcase a video with the beautiful pieces and paid tribute to each artist individually. This video ran on loop throughout the program to acknowledge the artists and the chief guests of the evening, also reflecting the work of Saheli for over 25 years for all present.

The Chief guests of the evening were esteemed Santhana Krishnan -he is a leader of global social enterprise and a connector of art and artists of international fame and Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, Peabody Essex Museum’s next Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Executive Director and CEO. In addition, we were also honored by the presence of Smita Amin Patel, honorary Board member of Peabody Essex Museum. We had two extraordinary art donations from Santhana, which were immediately displayed for public auction and were out bid almost instantly. One was a M.F. Husain | Durga | Serigraph on paper and another was a Seema Kohli | The Golden Womb - 6| Serigraph.

Saheli dedicated one section of the venue to exclusively promote and encourage young budding artists who were given an opportunity to display and sell their work and get an acknowledgement by the esteemed chief guests of the evening. Another section of the venue hosted 5 unique art vendors selling different art forms from intricate gold and south Asian themed artwork to Indian based art on fabric and handbags, folk and traditional art on thermos and mugs, delectable desserts served with an artistic twist, all these goods were on display and sale to the audience who was eager to explore all the different facets of art being presented under one roof. Beautiful, customized Art Affair mementos shaped in the form of resin palettes with the Art Affair logo were awarded to all mainstream artists and student artists by the President Neelam Wali and the head of the Art Affair Committee, Ruchika Yadav.

The event was a grand success and a colorful feather in the proverbial crown of Saheli. We had a fully sold-out event, and 12 paintings/art pieces sold on public auction out of a display from 21 artists.  We received great feedback from the attendees about the fresh appeal of this event, a wine and cheese, gallery style unique presentation with live music benefiting artists from all walks of life, with a request to bring this back again soon.  Saheli would like to thank the community, the artists, the vendors, and volunteers for their outpouring of support to this extraordinary event and creative rendezvous. We will be back!!

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