Art for a Cause: SoHo Galleries Auction Benefits Kids with Cancer
Adele Aguirre has spent more than three decades collecting art — from Mexico, Cuba, France, the United States, India, and beyond. The walls of her life, she says, have grown full. Now she’s ready to share some of what she’s gathered, and to do it for a cause close to home.
Aguirre, a New Yorker who founded SoHo Galleries in Mérida in 2008, is opening her personal collection for a one-night charity auction, with proceeds benefiting AMANC Yucatán, the local chapter of a national nonprofit that supports children and adolescents with cancer. More than 30 pieces will be available — works that hung in her own home, not the gallery floor.
“I love them all,” she said, “but it’s time to let some of them find new homes while supporting a worthy cause.”
AMANC Yucatán, established in 1999, supports more than 400 young patients receiving cancer treatment at Hospital Infantil de Yucatán. Families come from across the state and from neighboring Campeche, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Chiapas, and even Belize. The organization fills the gaps left by Mexico’s public health system: lodging, transportation, meals, medication, and emotional support for families navigating treatment. Between 15 and 20 new cases of childhood cancer are diagnosed in Yucatán every month, a number that climbs when referrals from other states are counted.
SoHo Galleries has a history of pairing art with community benefit. The gallery has previously supported programs including Art With A Heart and other local causes. This event takes that tradition into more personal territory.
Art for a Cause Auction
- Date: Thursday, April 23, 2026
- Time: 7–11 p.m.
- Location: SoHo Galleries, Calle 60 400A x 41 & 43, Centro, Mérida
- Silent auction: 7–10 p.m.
- Live auction: 8–9 p.m.
- Auctioneer: Nate Goodluck-Johnson
- Beneficiary: AMANC Yucatán
- Works available: 30+ pieces from Mexico, Cuba, France, the U.S., and India
Lee Steele is the founding director of Mérida-based Roof Cat Media S de RL de CV and has published Yucatán Magazine and other titles since 2012. He was Hearst Connecticut’s Sunday Magazine creative director and worked in New York City for various magazine publishers, including Condé Nast and Primedia, for over 20 years.
