Hotmail Founder Wins Weapons of Light Sculpture Auction at Annual Benefit

The Weapons of Light Foundation took over North Beach’s historic Hackett Mill Gallery for one night of artistic philanthropy on September 20, raising critical funds for India’s Bethlehem House of Bread through their second annual Artist Salon and Benefit Auction. The remarkable setting—architect Henry Temple Howard’s 1940 sculpture studio originally designed for his brother Robert Boardman Howard and wife Adaline Kent—provided a stunning backdrop for the high-stakes art auction. The lively paddle raise saw Hotmail founder Sabeer Bhatia win the coveted Weapons of Light sculpture during a live auction that supports 46 children and 5 widows in Rajahmundry, India.

Gallery owners Michael Hackett and Francis Mill welcomed distinguished guests including space architect Anastasia Prosina and trauma surgeon Jonathan Nguyen of sponsor Windy Holler. Chef Lionel Haeberle created an extraordinary Bay Area-meets-French culinary journey featuring Dungeness crab tartare, Pier 39 smoked mussels with saffron aioli, and delicate crêpes with Ghirardelli chocolate. San Francisco Symphony’s Amos Yang and Charles Chandler provided the evening’s musical centerpiece through their performance of Shinji Eshima’s “Bariolage,” recreating the artistic gatherings that once defined this historic space seventy years ago. The successful fundraising of the Weapons of Light Foundation enables them to send a trauma surgeon and medic to assess Bethlehem House of Bread and provide medical evaluations and medicine to children in need of care.