Emeline Leyens/Middle Child
Max Drew was portioning out turkey one day at the Center City sandwich shop Middle Child when he came up with the idea for a fundraiser for the National Independent Venue Association. “We hadn’t had a Nite Lunch dinner in a while,” Drew says of Middle Child’s lunch-for-dinner initiatives that raised funds for community organizations like Proyecto Tamal. “All of those are very collaborative, but I’m not a chef, so I couldn’t come up with a menu.” Instead, he thought of what he refers to as the “Middle Child extended universe,” in which many pals and customers are visual artists. Turkey in hand and dreaming, a “lunch-themed art auction popped into my head,” he says.