An art auction this weekend at the Gardiner Mill Cottage Gallery in East Hampton Village will benefit Kayla Kearney, a young Springs woman and aspiring artist who endured more than eight months of hospitalization, surgeries, and physical therapy stemming from a tumor on her pituitary gland that turned out to be a far more serious condition.
Some 75 artworks, including vintage paintings donated by private collectors, organizations, and dealers, will be part of the silent auction, Art for KK, on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. But more donations from artists will be welcomed. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the auction will go to the Kearney family, said Terry Wallace, executive director of the gallery, which is at 36 James Lane.
There are works "at some really great prices by some very good artists," Mr. Wallace said on Friday.
Ms. Kearney, 21, was diagnosed in December 2023 with a large tumor on her pituitary gland. In January 2024 she underwent what was expected to be a routine surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital to remove the tumor. Instead, she was diagnosed with a paraganglioma, a type of neuroendocrine tumor that attaches to the blood vessels. It resulted in four strokes and swelling and warranted a medically induced coma.
Ms. Kearney did not get home to Springs until the late summer of 2024, returning to streets lined with friends and well-wishers.
