Park West artists raise more than $13,000 for Make-A-Wish Foundation aboard NCL Pearl
The Norwegian Cruise Line Pearl (Photo courtesy of NCL.com)
Park West Gallery artists loaned their extraordinary talents to help raise funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation while cruising on Norwegian Cruise Line.
On numerous occasions, Park West artists enjoy using their artistic talents to benefit non-profit organizations, and happily did so during a cruise aboard the Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pearl from July 12-19 to Alaska.
Park West artist Alfred Gockel creatively sourced maps of Alaska in port. He saw an opportunity and approached the other artists traveling with him – world renowned photo-realist painter Scott Jacobs, internationally known painter Fanch Ledan and master figurative artist Peter Nixon – with an idea on how to help raise funds during a charity auction.
According to John Block, VIP Art Director aboard the Pearl, the artists spent the cruise creating special artwork on the maps, adorning them with locally themed imagery such as whales, bears and totems.
The maps were auctioned off during the final day of the voyage at a VIP auction, raising more than $13,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which grants the wishes of children diagnosed with life-threatening medical conditions.
“We were delighted to help this wonderful charity, which is Norwegian Cruise Line’s primary sponsored benefit organization,” Block says. “Each of the maps received dozens of bids, our clients were very excited about raising money for this outstanding cause.”
According to Norwegian Cruise Line’s website, the cruise line works closely with the foundation. In addition to fundraisers, the cruise line helps create memories for children who wish to visit one of the destinations the line has to offer. This has included making the child an honorary “captain for a day” and behind-the-scenes tours, among other cruise related dreams to fulfill.
Extradorinary Talent, Extraordinary Artists, Wonderful people. Wish I was there! Thanks so much- MAW is one of the charities that my company supports year-round!
We are so proud to have raised money for this wonderful organization!
I was on this cruise and all 4 Artists were incredible people and great human being on top of their artistic talent. The comments that Gockel made about being of German heritage after the World Wars brought many of us to tears.
Thanks James! We work hard to provide an uplifting and intimate experience with our collectors and artists. We are so happy you had a great time!
Make a Wish is a Great Charity and has been my wife’s and my favorite cause for years. All the artist’s talents and humanity were beautifully showcased at this lively event. Thanks Parkwest for making it a memorable 1st vip cruise for us.
SO happy you had a wonderful time with us, Frank! We hope to see you soon!
Do you have any images of the art they created?
Hi Brian,
Unfortunately the works were not photographed before they went up for auction. But we will update you once we receive photos. We’re interested in seeing these works too!
What wonderful artists to give their paintings and wonderful patrons to buy them
Outstanding personalities creating outstanding artwork for a terrific cause. We, too, were a part of this wonderful VIP trip.
Thanks for sailing with us, Jeremy and Myra. Hope to see you soon!
Thank you all for supporting this group. My 4-year-old great niece and her 2 sisters who live with her life-threatening illness on a daily basis, had so much fun becoming princesses on her wish trip. They will remember it forever!
So happy to hear that they have those memories. We are so happy we could help this wonderful organization!
My wife and I LOVED the PW Cruise last October where we met and talked with 3 artists! We were on the Pear one week earlier :(. We would have loved to met the artists! PW does a lot of “Community” things, and should talk about it more! We go to all the Art Auction on every cruise we go on – for the enjoyment of the Auction as well as we learn more and more about the Artists represented by PW. It is nice to hear that the Artists as well as PW do these “giving back” social things! Keep up those!
Thanks for your feedback, Steven! We are honored to have raised money for such as great cause!
I agree with James and Frank – it was a fabulous event and the artists were so generous with their time and talents. It was an honor to get to know them and their work is inspirational!
We were part of this fantastic journey with the 4 incredibly talented artists. This was a great surprise that they did this and the artwork was awesome the purpose even better!!
I’m so proud to say that I am employed by Park West as of Dec.14,2015. This cause really touched me as I’m reading through. My son is a survivor and today he is a Nurse. The experience we had with the Wish Foundation was and will always be memorable. My Son decided to take a trip to Orlando to “Make a Wish Resort”. Thank you NCL 🙂