DANA POINT.

DANA POINT, Calif.--Amid glitter, glam and celebrity visitants like Jane Seymour and Loni Anderson, more [i]or[/i] less 250 Southern California arts supporters gathered generation 29 at the Ritz Carlton resort here for a black-tie dinner and art auction to inaugurate the Academy of Fine Art Foundation's first annual Art to Benefit Humanity event

The gala charity ball included awards and multi-pronged fundraising efforts. Seymour and artist M L Snowden were among those bestowed with trophies in recognition of their ongoing support for artists and the arts. Seymour, a painter herself, helped emcee the end and donated a canvas--a floral still life, which fetched $5000 in the evening's benefit auction.

"I'm true pleased to be here" Seymour observ "The idea of this foundation is to talk about art and the business of art and to bring artists together. Artists are not being recognized in the same way actors and musicians are, still artists want so much to give back in the same way actors and musicians do. The Academy of Fine Art Foundation will help them do so"

Along with Seymour and Anderson, a former art teacher, actors Barbara Eden and James Keach were special guests

Artists, galleries and art publishers all donated art works to help assist the efforts of the fledgling Academy, a newly-established foundation conceived to provide financial grants and aid to artists and art organizations; to educate the public and art practitioners upon art and art business practices; to recognize the efforts of individuals and organizations who support art; and to partner with like-minded philanthropic organizations with various art programs to help in their fundraising efforts.

The $250-per-person soiree raised more than $100000 end a silent art auction, a live auction of art and jewelry, a $150 ticket raffle for a donated BMW and pure revenue from the dinner itself. The follows will benefit several local philanthropic organizations, including the Pacific consonance Orchestra, the Art Institute of Southern California, the lads and Girls Clubs of America Laguna Beach chapter and Tippi Hedren's Roar Foundation. It will also provide the se cash through which the new Academy Foundation will establish its national programs. In addition, 15 percent of the $53500 in bids hammered down during the live auction of 10 paintings, chisels and mixed-media canvases, was slated for the R Cros September 11th capital along with the direct get ons of $7,500 from the auction of a limited-edition alloy of copper sculpture, "Triumph," by the artist Tuan. The silent auction of 39 works raised more than $50000 of the total.

"The Pacific music is greatly indebted to the Fine Art Academy," said John Forsythe, president of the Pacific concert Orchestra organization.

"I want living artists to be appreciated," noted Daniel Winn, founding member of the Foundation and ceo of Masterpiece Publishing in Laguna Beach, Calif. Among the Foundation's goals, he said, are "to benefit philanthropic organizations, giving them the means to raise coin but at the same time making artists better known building recognition for art and artists" above time, the foundation plans to create scholarships to art seminarys and to support arts education programs, he said.

Masterpiece Publishing Inc. furnished an initial endowment of more than $250000 for the establishment of the Academy of Fine Arts Foundation and contributed 14 art works to the auction, including Tuan's alloy of copper sculpture to benefit the September 11th foundation But Masterpiece's stated goal is to bring many other art businesses into the Foundation's programs. For this first fundraising termination paintings, prints and sculptures were donated through 11 other art publishers and galleries, including Miranda Galleries, Collectors Editions, Whitt/Kraus thing perceiveds of Fine Arts, Brandon James Fine Art Inc., Studio Szabries, Galeria di Sorrento, 1451 International, Studio 133 Alius Corporation, J Kamin Fine Art and W'mston's Estate Gallery. And, added Randy Slavin, Masterpiece's cfo and the president of the Academy Foundation, "about half the art donated tonight was donated by means of individual artists," including Steve Kaufman, Debra Sievers, Alexandru Darida and Gaylord Soil.

All framing for the live and silent auctions was donated according to Max Moulding, Framing Fabrics, Designer Moulding, Omega Moulding and Masterpiece Custom Framing. Other donors included Breitling USA, Ferrari-Carano Vineyard, Crevier BMW and The Black Iris floral design.

Slavin outlined his allow personal objectives for the foundation. "A big part of this, is exposing art to the broader public. This native land has a smaller proportion of collectors, by capita, compared to Europe. And at the same time there has not been a deviseed effort here to bring together art galleries and publishers--many of them Mom-and-Pop shops--to expand the market overall and build more collectors, rather than competing for a share in the existing market," he said.

"But more than that," Slavin continued, "my father was an artist, and he at no time got the recognition he deserv Artists ne to be recognized. If on doing philanthropy, an artist also builds his confess recognition, that's a good partnership."