Internationally recognized art institution Ballroom Marfa brought its 20th Anniversary celebration to New York City, co-chaired by Ballroom Co-Founders Fairfax Dorn and Virginia Lebermann, Executive Director Holly Harrison, and esteemed co-chairs. The much-anticipated evening raised over 1.4 million dollars for the foundation and gathered a glittering list of renowned guests, artists, and leaders across the visual and performing arts for a spectacular celebration at The Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Guests included Joe Jonas, Yvonne Force Villareal, Louisa Sarofim, Brunello Cucinelli CEO Massimo Caronna and wife Natasha, Jen Rubio and Stewart Butterfield, Jenny Laird, Wes Gordon and Paul Arnhold, Amy and Chris Astley, Kim and Nico Landrigan, Dayssi and Paul Kanavos, Bronson van Wyck, Bertha González Nieves, Lauren Santo Domingo, Casey Fremont, Lisa Perry, Lydia Fenet, and Douglas Friedman. Artists included Lisa Yuskavage, Arden Wohl and Jonah Freeman, Dan Colen, Sheree Hovsepian, Laura Seymour and Matthew Day Jackson, Alejandro Piñeiro Bello, Adam Pendleton, Robert Nava, Loie Hollowell and Brian Caverly, Kenneth Tam, Joel Gaitan, Rosy Keyser, Anna Weyant, Astrid Terrazas, along with Ballroom Creative Director Vance Knowles, Whitney Museum Director Scott Rothkopf, and leaders across the arts.
Guests, dressed in “Texas formal” attire, sipped Casa Dragones cocktails, champagne by Champagne Lallier, wine by Dry Farm Wines, whisky by The Macklowe, and enjoyed caviar by Petrossian ahead of a performance by The Marching Cobras Drumline and Danceline, seated dinner, a special musical appearance by Broadway stars, and a live auction of original artwork by Alejandro Piñeiro Bello, Florian Krewer, and Marina Perez Simão led by Lydia Fenet. Dorn and Lebermann presented the Off the Grid Award, designed by artist Joel Gaitan, to the honorees Allison Sarofim and Leo Villareal, who commemorated the anniversary with a new site-specific installation of captivating laser technology light sequences, a departure from his distinctive use of LEDs, on the 135-foot diameter dome designed by Raphael Guastavino in 1909, that aspired to merge the spiritual and cosmic.
Brunello Cucinelli was the presenting sponsor; the evening was also made possible by the generosity of Orveda Skincare, Verdura, and Belperron.
Image credit Neil Rasmus/BFA, David Benthal/BFA
