On Tuesday night, the Whitney Museum of American Art turned its space into a gala-ready crossroads of New York’s cultural spheres, honoring artist Julie Mehretu, Board Chair Fern Kaye Tessler, and Director Emeritus Adam D. Weinberg. The annual benefit raised $6.3 million in support of the Whitney’s exhibitions, education programs, and expanded free admissions initiatives, including its Free 25 and Under program (a project spearheaded and funded by Mehretu). Throughout the evening, tributes celebrated the Ethiopia-born artist’s contributions to contemporary painting and the Whitney’s community-access programs, Tessler’s longstanding stewardship of the institution, and Weinberg’s two-decade tenure leading the museum into its downtown home.
“I started coming to the Whitney when I was very young,” Mehretu shared. “It was one of the first institutions where I experienced what an art space could be, so it’s always been deeply meaningful to me.” That connection deepened when the artist mounted her survey at the institution in 2021, following delays during the pandemic. “Adam asked me to join the board after the show,” she explained. “Since then, I’ve really pushed for accessibility—especially for families and communities across all the boroughs—to make the museum feel open and welcoming to as many people as possible.”
The Scene: As the sun dipped behind the Hudson, guests floated between the Whitney’s terrace and lobby in a melange of tailoring, sculptural gowns, and art-world chatter. Guests traded greetings and shop talk over cocktails, before the evening shifted into a formal dinner and afterparty in the lobby’s cavernous ground-floor space.
The Locale: The museum’s glass-framed downtown flagship provided a grand backdrop for the evening, with cocktails held on the museum’s eighth floor amidst skyline views, before guests descended to the ground-floor lobby for a seated dinner.
The Crowd: Honorees including Mehretu, Kaye Tessler, and Weinberg; Whitney Museum director Scott Rothkopf; actors Neil Patrick Harris and Jenny Mollen; artists Rashid Johnson, Glenn Ligon, Zoe Leonard, Lorna Simpson, Derek Fordjour, Trevor Paglen, Anna Weyant, and Anicka Yi; designers June Ambrose, Stacey Bendet, and Wes Gordon; media personalities Nigel Barker and Dorothy Wang; writer Derek Blasberg; musicians Jewel and Aaron Dessner; make-up artist and entrepreneur Bobbi Brown; and arts leaders including Thelma Golden, Anne Pasternak, and Marc Glimcher.
The Entertainment: Following dinner and a series of warm tributes to the evening’s honorees, two-time Grammy Award winner Shaggy took over the room with a raucous live performance that energized the crowd.
Food & Drink: Guests sipped spritzes and blood orange margaritas to start the evening, while the seated meal included sweet-and-spicy bacon with grissini, a potato topped with caviar, filet of beef with morel mushrooms and parsnip purée, and bite-sized desserts to preserve the evening’s sweetness.
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