The quote "but wishes are only granted in fairy tales" is merely another fairy tale to Batia Ofer. Essentially, Batia Ofer is on a quest to make the wishes of children with chronic illnesses come true. She aims to accomplish her purpose by raising funds for the charity Make-A-Wish Foundation UK through the Art of Wishes initiative.

Make-A-Wish UK is a UK-based charity initiative founded in 1986. The charity aims to revive the childhood hope and joy of children with life-threatening conditions in the UK by granting them their wishes. Up to this point, Make-A-Wish UK grants thousands of children their wishes yearly. The initiative is supported by numerous non-profit organizations and renowned individuals in various fields. Batia Ofer is the biggest patron of Make-A-Wish UK.

About Batia Ofer

Batia Ofer is a UK-based, Israel-born philanthropist focusing on cultural and educational causes. Born in an art-loving family, Batia has a great interest in the arts and creative world. She is one of the top art collectors in the world, with excellent taste in contemporary post-war artworks. Besides, she is a Royal Academy of Arts trustee and a sits on the International council of Sotheby’s and the V&A.

As a humanitarian, Batia Ofer believes every human, especially children, should feel safe and secure. And so, she engages in various charitable activities, mainly supporting chronically ill children.

She has been and is involved in multiple philanthropic initiatives. More precisely, she co-founded the HKS Sammy Ofer Graduate Fellowship Fund and Idan and Batia Ofer Family Foundation, together with her husband, Israeli businessman Idan Ofer. These foundations address education and social issues by supporting various projects in the health, welfare, culture, and education fields, mainly in the Middle East region.

Batia has engaged with the foundation for over 15 years, serving in various roles, including serving as an honourary president of Make-A-Wish Israel. Currently, Batia is a major patron of the Make-A-Wish Foundation UK. In support of Make-A-Wish UK, Batia founded a charitable initiative, Art of Wishes.

The Art of Wishes initiative aims to bring together the artistry and charity worlds. Driven by its founder Batia Ofer's vision, the Art of Wishes initiative seeks to raise funds through artworks for granting critically ill children their life-changing wishes.

Batia Ofer and the Art of Wishes Initiative

The Art of Wishes is one of Batia Ofer's art-related fundraiser initiatives focusing on raising funds for the Make-A-Wish UK foundation. In other words, it is a charitable initiative that aims to bring together the creative arts community (galleries, institutions, artists, and art collectors internationally) in various fundraising events to support the Make-A-Wish works.

The Art of Wishes Initiative is one of the most profound charitable initiatives that combine Batia Ofer's interests – arts and charity. The initiative was founded in 2017 and is currently biggest Make-A-Wish fundraisers. To date, the initiative, through various events, has raised over Nine million pounds, granting over three thousand children their wishes.

Essentially, Batia Ofer, alongside the Art of Wishes community, organizes both traditional live and silent and online charity-inspired arts auctions. Also, it holds exclusive Art of Wishes Gala dinners, lunches, and private auctions with exclusive artworks curated and donated by reputable and upcoming contemporary artists. The Art of Wishes MATCHES FASHION charity lunch at Wild by Tart, Belgravia, is one of the recent initiative's events. Collectively, the event and silent auction raised over £175,000.

The Art of Wishes Gala is one of the regular auction events organized by Batia through the Arts of Wishes initiative. The gala takes place bi-annually, usually during the frieze week. The Art of Wishes gala is done in collaboration with prestigious London institutions and auction houses like Philips and Sotheby's. It features exclusive pieces inspired by the works of Make-A-Wish UK and typical contemporary artworks. And most importantly, it allows guests, collectors, and artists to interact with the works of the Make-A-Wish UK initiative.

Typically, the Art of Wishes is supported by some of the prominent artists in the world, like Tracey Emin, Jenny Saville, and Georg Baselitz. Other internationally-know Art of Wishes donors include Anish Kapoor, Peter Doig, and Julian Opie.

In this year's event (2022), the auction features some of the most exclusive works from the Roman jeweler Fabio Salini. He donated over 50 high-value jewels, including a pair of gold-and-diamond-edged black carbon fiber buckle cuffs and titanium earrings. The items were sold for 750,000 GBP through traditional live auctions at Sotheby's and online.

Basically, Batia Ofer believes in the transformative power of faith and hope brought about by seeing the seemingly impossible happening. And through Art of Wishes, Batia is determined to bring back the lost childhood light and joy. Most importantly, she seeks to revive the belief that anything is possible, which has been proven to have a significant positive impact on the ailing children.