Whitney Museum’s Annual Art Party (2020 Edition) Was Another One for the Books

The Whitney Museum of American Art hosted its annual Art Party late last month, with co-chairs Olivia Palermo, Nigel Sylvester, Michael Carl, Micaela Erlanger, and artist Jamian Juliano-Villani. Proceeds from the Art Party benefit the Whitney’s Independent Study Program and other education initiatives.

Sponsored by Tod’s, the 2020 Whitney Art Party brought together guests from the worlds of fashion, film, art, philanthropy, and business for a chic evening featuring live musical performances, cocktails, and dancing. Guests included actresses Katie Holmes, Julia Fox, Kate Walsh, Willa Fitzgerald and former NFL football player Victor Cruz.

Co-chairs Kristen Cole of Forty Five Ten and artists Maia Ruth Lee and Liza Lou co-chaired the Art Party dinner, where guests enjoyed a performance by New York-based singer-songwriter Zsela and dined on a special family-style menu by Union Square Events and champagne by Mod Sélection.

Following dinner, guests joined the Art Party on the museum’s ground floor in the Kenneth C. Griffin Hall and Andrea and James Gordon Restaurant at Untitled, for DJ sets by Dizzy Fae, Okay Kaya, and SHYBOI. On the Museum’s 8th floor Studio Cafe, attendees enjoyed a special performance of exhibiting Whitney artist Darren Bader’s triple DJ, performed by BEARCAT, br0nz3_g0dd3ss, and Riobamba. Bader currently has a solo exhibition at the Whitney, fruits, vegetables; fruit and vegetable salad, in which fresh fruits and vegetables are presented as formal objects and turned into salad before over-ripening. Attendees were brought to the eighth floor in the museum’s large elevator which had a specialty tequila bar provided by Casa Noble.

Guests were able to enjoy cocktails and exhibition viewing, including current museum exhibitions fruits, vegetables; fruit and vegetable salad, Making Knowing: Craft in Art, 1950–2019, Order and Ornament: Roy Lichtenstein’s Entablatures, and The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965.

Notable guests include Actresses Julia Fox, Kate Walsh, and Willa Fitzgerald; models Pritika Swarup, Leyna Bloom, Lauren Layne, Marianne Fonseca, Alecta Hill, Gilda Joelle, Haley Kalil, Ashley Haas; designers Rachel Comey, Wes Gordon, Gemma Kahng, Rubin Singer, and Rosie Assoulin; musicians Zsela, Okay Kaya, Dizzy Fae, and Ezinma; DJs BEARCAT, br0nz3_g0dd3ss, Riobamba, and SHYBOI; artists Willa Nasatir, Salman Toor, Paul Arnhold, Elizabeth Jaeger, Caitlin Keogh, Andrew Kuo, Ajay Kurian, Maggie Lee, Shantell Martin, Josephine Meckseper, Troy Michie, Jordan Nassar, Jennifer Packer, Jacolby Satterwhite, and Wu Tsang; supporters of the arts Judy Hart Angelo, David Carey, Nancy and Fred Poses, Fern and Lenard Tessler, Grace Atwood, Carrie Berk, Adam Fields, Sarah Hoover, Flora Irving, George Merck, and Polina Proshkina, Antwaun Sargent, Kate Krone, and Kristen Joy Watts; former NFL football player Victor Cruz; curators Rujeko Hockley and Christopher Lew; art dealer David Maupin; and the Alice Pratt Brown Director of the Whitney Museum of American Art, Adam D. Weinberg.