El Museo del Barrio held its most important fundraiser of the year, their annual Spring Gala, on Thursday, May 14th at The Plaza Hotel. El Museo board member Yolanda Santos received the Joseph A. Unanue Trustee Leadership Award; Senior Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at Time Warner Inc., Lisa Garcia Quiroz, were honored with the Corporate Excellence in the Arts Awards; and Founder and President of Fundación Jumex Arte Contemporáneo, Eugenio López Alonso, was presented with the Excellence in the Arts Award. The three silver awards were generously donated by Christofle. The sold out gala raised $1 million dollars.
The Young Gala Committee Chairs included Jamie Diamond, Karla Farach de Athanasopoulos, Jessica Garza-Bueron, Karina Palma, Jana Pasquel de Shapiro, and Leticia Pittman Presutti.
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| Ike Ude, Maria Eugenia Maury |
The Honorary Committee included Pedro Almodóvar, Miguel Bosé, Maria Cornejo, Ambassador Sandra Fuentes (Consul General of Mexico), Erika Harrsch, Magos Herrera, Ambassador and Mrs. Jorge Montaño (Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations), Dascha Polanco, Candy Pratts Price, Narciso Rodriguez, Andres Serrano, Maricruz and Ray Smith, Isabel and Ruben Toledo, and Iké Udé.
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| Luis Medina Abascal, Maria Eugenia Maury, Bill Haseltine, & Rodner Figueroa |
Guests attending included Luis Medina Abascal (Grandee of Spain, and brand ambassador for Dolce Gabbana), Tony Bechara, Barbara Berger (Jeweler), Violaine and John Bernbach, Maria Cornejo, Laura and John Desmarais, Valdislav Dornin, Jacqueline Weld Drake, Anita Durst, Ambassador Sandra Fuentes (Consul General of Mexico), Council Member Julissa Ferreras, Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos and Paul Kanavos, Ambassador Jorge Montaño (Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations),
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| Jean Shafiroff |
Enrique Norten, Council Member Annabel Palma, Florence Peyrelongue, Congressman Pedro Pierluisi, Dascha Polanco (Orange Is The New Black), Assembly Member Robert Rodriguez, Rodolfo de Rothschild, Julian Schnabel, Andrew Solomon, Maurice Sonnenberg, Andres Serrano, Jean Shafiroff, Jana Pasquel and Adam Shapiro, Maricruz and Ray Smith, Daisy Soros, Deputy Commissioner Edwin Torres, Adrienne and Gianluigi Vittadini, Carmen Ana Unanue, and many more.
The evening of cocktails, dinner and dancing (to the music of Avendia B, and a multidisciplinary performance by Erika Harrsch in collaboration with Mexican jazz singer Magos Herrera) had a black and white cinematic theme, inspired by the museum’s current exhibition, “Under the Mexican Sky: Gabriel Figueroa- Art and Film”, which celebrates the highly distinctive work of famed Mexican cinematographer Gabriel Figueroa (1907 – 1997). Not only was the Plaza ‘dressed’ for the occasion (Jeronimo Gaxiola designed the event), but so were the guests, and it lent a wonderfully moody ambience to the night.
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| Evelyn Gutierrez Subramaniam |
The women were asked to dress in black and white with gloves and veils, and let me tell you, most of them went to great lengths to take this directive seriously (so much so that one could have called this gala, “The Dance of the 700 Veils”). The official milliner of the event was Patricia Underwood and last month, (at a gala kickoff party held at the UN Plaza apartment of El Museo’s Gala Chairs Maria Eugenia Maury and husband William Haseltine attended by 100 guests), she was on hand, with a selection of her veils, and guests were able to purchase and/or design their own. Patricia designed a special veil for actress Dascha Polanco, whose gown was by Badgley Mischka. But hers were not the only veils.
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| Barbara Berger |
Jeweler Barbara Berger wore a fantastical veiled floral headpiece to compliment her divine black and white vintage Oscar de la Renta gown; Maria Eugenia Maury accessorized her Giorgio Armani black label black satin evening gown with a Prive black fishnet mantilla with giant black patent paillettes; and several women admitted they created their own veiled headpieces.
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| Dipak Shah |
And let’s not forget about the guys. They normally dress in black and white attire for evening soirees, and served as perfect compliments to the ladies, and a few even got a bit creative with the theme. Brett Gallaway wore a printed black and white bow tie and black velvet smoking slippers embossed with a white design, and Dipak Shah’s black and white eyeglass frames served as the perfect foil for the similarly optical seating and cushions. But nobody could top Ike Ude, the celebrated artist, author, dandy and fashion icon, who arrived in a black and white polka dot jacket, matching shirt, and black bow tie, which he paired with crisp white trousers and natty black and white wingtips.
All in all, the evening could not have been more spirited, visual, or successful, as summed up by the evening’s host Maria Eugenia Maury: “My husband and I were proud to chair this year’s Gala as it accompanies a renaissance for our institution. We celebrated an ambitious new director, new board leadership, and a brilliant slate of exhibitions. This year’s honorees are outstanding individuals who support the arts and our Latin community. Like El Museo, their impact is international. The enthusiasm for all this was reflected in our gala, which sold out, through longtime supporters and new.”
