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| News & Scoreboards |
Philanthropists at the Gates
Tatiana Serafin
07/01/2004
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Christo and Jeanne-Claude amassed their
wealth, more than $200 million, from the sale of Christo’s prints, drawings and
original lithographs. They use their own funds to finance their projects: The
Gates will cost them $20 million out-of-pocket to erect, including a $3 million
donation to the Central Park Conservancy. For the past 40 years, they have lived
and worked in an utterly unpretentious walk-up apartment one block north of
Canal Street in New York’s bustling Chinatown.
While the artists admit they
are enthusiastic about NNYN, Kheel has been the inspiration behind the
organization since 1991. At 90, he is spry and nimble, dressed one recent day in
a polka-dot shirt and striped suit, answering a phone that seems to never stop
ringing. Since 1949 he has been an attorney with Paul, Hastings, Janofsky and
Walker, where he still maintains an office. He has also served as New York
City’s labor mediator and owns significant property development interests from
Pennsylvania to the Dominican Republic, including a 30-square-mile jungle patch
that has been developed into a resort with 400 hotel rooms, luxury homes, a golf
course and an airport. This is not his first art-philanthropy connection. He
once convinced Robert Rauschenberg to donate limited-edition prints to support
Earth Pledge. “I’ve had the good fortune to represent two great artists,” says
Kheel. “It’s the dream of every nonprofit.”
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