Help William Versace Rebuild his Studio

Dear friends, family, colleagues and arts community,

On Monday 23rd January, Will's pride and joy, his art studio was completely decimated by fire. This has been an unimaginable and devastating loss for Will. In the fire, he lost absolutely everything - all his tools, building/sculpting & painting materials and with them the ability to earn a living as an independent artist. The loss of a space he has spent 10 years slowly creating, piece by piece with heart, soul and a lot of hard work.

For those that don’t know, Will is a Sydney-based mixed media artist who over the last 10 years has been developing and refining his practice. This work has amalgamated in his first solo show which is scheduled to take place at Curatorial+ Co Gallery, opening on the 23rd of March. The show is a love letter to Kamay, Botany - an exhibition of his sculpture, photographs and paintings. Tragically, many of these one-off pieces were lost in the fire resulting in his show being set back months in labour and many years in finances.

As an independent Sydney artist the financial and emotional impact of this fire is catastrophic and recovering alone will be impossible. I am reaching out today to his suppliers, community and colleagues who have had the opportunity to work alongside Will to humbly begin project rebuild.

To complete his solo show and begin rebuilding his studio Will is going to have to replace many lost tools and materials. The monetary value of the tools and materials alone, not including the hours spent making and the priceless works and moulds lost is close to $100,000.

If there is anything at all you are willing to donate to help him recover some of these costs I know he would be eternally grateful. With a bit of help from everyone we hope to get Will the tools and materials he needs to complete his exhibition by the end of February for a March opening and in turn get him back on track to making art for many years to come.

We understand that these are uncertain times for everyone so please only offer what you’re able to and please share with your wider community if you feel called to. If you can’t, that's ok, we understand.

Gallery: https://curatorialandco.com/artists/william-versace-2/

Website: http://www.williamversace.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/william_versace/

With much love and thanks. x