Last night over 750 people from the worlds of art, finance, entertainment and beyond descended on the Brooklyn Museum’s sixth annual Brooklyn Artists Ball in “white hot” attire, along with 600 revelers for the post dinner bash. Seeing a bevy of revelers in stark white was a beautiful summery touch on a gorgeous spring evening. The sold-out, much anticipated, artist centric gala celebrating Brooklyn’s creative community was the first under Anne Pasternak’s leadership that raised over $2.2 million for Museum programs and exhibitions. Guests began the evening enjoying cocktails in the Museum’s lobby and wandered through the Museum’s newly refreshed American, Egyptian and European galleries. Several lucky people were able to snag a Polaroid portrait sessions with photographer Will Cotton, before heading up to the sold-out dinner in the Beaux Arts Court. The imitable space was transformed by event designer David Stark into a forest of towering totems created from rolls of toilet paper and paper towels—all in white—rising from the dining tables in varying vertiginous heights, up to 21-feet. Inspired by the sculpture of Brancusi, particularly the “Endless Column,” the stunning environment was created from thousands of stacked rolls of household and industrial paper goods (all of which will have a second life, utilized by the Museum throughout the year). After dinner, guests danced into the wee hours to the musical performances from DJ Runna and Brooklyn Museum Trustee and music producer, Kasseem Dean (AKA Swizz Beatz)—who both spun from a DJ booth incorporated into the fun soon-to-open Tom Sachs: Boombox Retrospective, 1999-2016 installation. On hand to celebrate the evening’s honorees, art supporters Stephanie and Tim Ingrassia, were Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean (music producer); Tamron Hall (Today Show), Chris Leacock (Major Lazer), Jenna Lyons (JCrew); Klaus Biesenbach (MoMA, PS1); Dustin Yellin (artist); Jeffrey Deitch (gallerist); David Stark (event designer); Waris Ahluwalia (designer/actor); Mickalene Thomas (artist); Tom Sachs (artist), Maxwell Osborne (designer, Public School); Stephen Powers (artist); Will Cotton (artist); Hank Willis Thomas (artist); Daniel Arsham (artist), Kambui Olujimi (artist); Jen Catron and Paul Outlaw (artists); Marilyn Minter (artist); Elizabeth Sackler (Brooklyn Museum Board Chair/arts benefactor); Jane and David Walentas; Anja Rubik (model); Zoe Buckman (artist); (Brook Klausing (model); Olivia Wolfe (owner, American Two Shot); Vito Acconci (artist); Blaze Makoid (architect); Katie Hollander (Creative Time); Katy Clark (BAM); Tom Healy (writer); Fred Hochberg (politician); as well as Anne Pasternak (Shelby White and Leon Levy Director, Brooklyn Museum) and Carla Shen and Olivia Song (event chairs).
