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Los Angeles Times
08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Sawdust Festival to host auction to support artists benevolence fund
Laguna Beach may long have looked at itself as a colony of artists, but it's no secret that a career as a creative has its challenges. It's not synonymous with stability, and it isn't always lucrative, which is all the more reason why the artists benevolence fund exists. The fund provides a pool of money that local artists may access in a time of personal tragedy or crisis. It is overseen by a five-member board of trustees. An artist may apply for critical assistance once a year. In August, the Sawdust Art Festival hosts a live auction to raise dollars for the fund. Artists, both locally and from out of town, donate artwork for the auction, with 100% of the proceeds going into the fund's account. David Nelson, a jewelry designer who works with sterling silver, was one of the founding members of the program. While individual cases are kept confidential and the amount of the grants are limited, Nelson said the intention of the fund is to help artists who live in Laguna Beach get back to work. 'When it first started, there was an artist here who had [terminal] cancer and was concerned about how we were going to take care of her 6-year-old, so we all passed the hat,' Nelson said. 'It was the original 'GoFundMe.'' he quipped. 'After that, we realized there's a lot of artists here that don't have insurance, so then we had our first auction. … It was a long time ago. We started doing it every year,,' he said. 'The fund was set up to help artists out who make their living as an artists. It's not just doing what they love, it's how they make their living.' The artists benevolence fund live auction will take place from noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday from the waterfall deck on the Sawdust Festival grounds. Admission is free for those planning to participate in the auction. Since its inception in 1987 the benevolence fund has awarded more than $100,000 for resident artists in need. Nelson, who has exhibited at the Sawdust Art Festival for 56 years, is also in charge of a memorial plaque honoring those who have made a significant contribution to the festival. 'Many artists have gotten their start here,' Nelson said. 'Some like myself are still here. Some have moved on from here. … There's 149 names on the plaque of artists who have come and gone, and those are artists who have been here for years and put in their blood, sweat and tears to the show. I've got to add three more names this year. I added five last year and five the year before.' The goal is to raise as much money as possible for the fund, Nelson said, offering up a target of between $25,000 to $30,000. He added that he hopes to have 75-plus pieces of artwork, spanning a wide range in value, to auction off. John Tynan, known to Laguna Beach residents for his involvement with the Third Street Writers and the local radio station KXFM 104.7, is expected to serve as auctioneer. Joan Gladstone, a fifth-year exhibitor at the Sawdust Art Festival, has donated art each of those years, adding the experience has become more personal as she's met artists who have benefited from the benevolence fund. Between the artists themselves and the festival, Gladstone believes the auction is well known to the community. She noted she knows people who look forward to it every year. Gladstone's contribution this year? A popular print of a painting she did of a frozen banana stand on Balboa Island. 'We have a community of artists that are helping one another in a meaningful way through their art,' Gladstone said. 'There's another dimension of this when we think about community, and that is the community of art lovers who come to the auction and are there for three hours to bid on a treasure that has meaning for them. 'They want that art, they want that jewelry, or that ceramic item, and they know that the funds are going to this wonderful cause. We have this great mixture of the community of artists coming together to donate their work, but we also have the community of people who come together once a year to make a financial contribution to the fund.'
BBC News
03-05-2025
- BBC News
Elizabeth Tamilore Odunsi: British nursing student killed in Texas days before graduation
A British nursing student studying in the US has been found stabbed to death in an apartment in Houston, Texas, just days before she was due to graduate, say police and her Tamilore Odunsi, 23, was discovered on 26 April by officers who had gone to her flat to check if she was OK, said Houston police. Police said she had multiple stab wounds. A man was discovered in another room with at least one stab wound and he was taken to hospital in a critical Odunsi had a TikTok account, Tamidollars, where she posted to her 30,000 followers about her experiences as a Briton living in the US. In her last post, from 21 April, she described how she was ready to graduate in two weeks, and had already booked a online fundraiser to repatriate her remains to the UK for burial has gathered more than £44,000 ($58,000)."Tami was a beautiful soul, full of light, ambition, and kindness," her sister, Georgina Odunsi, wrote on GoFundMe."She moved from the UK to the United States to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse, dedicating herself to a life of care and service," she continued."Tragically, Tami was brutally murdered just days before she was set to graduate from university - an unimaginable loss at a moment that should have marked the beginning of a bright and promising future," her sister to a Houston Police Department statement, officers were called to the student housing complex at 15:50 local time last knocked on the door, but received no answer. They discovered blood on a rear concrete patio and entered the apartment. "The female victim was discovered on the kitchen floor with multiple stab wounds. A male was discovered in a bedroom with at least one stab wound," detectives wrote. Ms Odunsi was pronounced dead at the Woman's University, where she was studying, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BBC News. In a post last year, Ms Odunsi described how she preferred living in the US to the UK, telling her TikTok followers that "the vibes are just so much better here".In a more recent post, she shared video of the cap and gown she intended to wear to graduation, with the caption "3 more weeks".In an earlier post, she shared a video of herself studying with the caption: "She doesn't know it yet, but a year from now all her hard work will pay off, she'll be working as a nurse in her dream speciality."Ms Odunsi added that she hoped to have a "stronger relationship with Christ, living a quite and peaceful life".
