The Parrish Art Museum’s 2024 Midsummer Dance and Dinner Raises Over $1 Million for Programs and Education Initiatives

WATER MILL, NY 7/15/2024 — The Parrish Art Museum hosted over 650 guests for the Midsummer Dance and Dinner on July 12 and 13, including notable actors, artists, art collectors, curators, musicians, philanthropists, and business leaders from the Hamptons, New York City, and beyond. The event raised over $1 million in support of the museum’s programs and education initiatives.

Philanthropists Susan Pear Meisel and Louis K. Meisel were honored, along with acclaimed artists KAWS, Shirin Neshat, and Sean Scully, all of whom attended. Shirin Neshat and Sean Scully will present exhibitions at the Parrish during the summer of 2025. KAWS premiered his first survey in the East End on the night of the Midsummer Gala Dinner.

This year’s Midsummer Weekend focused on raising funds for “Access Parrish,” a community partner program providing artmaking, movement workshops, and gallery tours for adults and children with special needs.

At the Gala, it was announced that Louis K. Meisel and Susan Pear Meisel donated their Sagaponack Sculpture Field to the Parrish Art Museum. The sculpture field, spanning nearly two acres in Sagaponack, New York, features 20 sculptures, including works by Audrey Flack and Kenneth Snelson. Louis K. Meisel stated his objective is to continue the legacy of artists and support the Parrish Art Museum into the future.

“The gift of the Sagaponack Sculpture Field is a tremendous contribution and a transformative gift for the museum. Lou and Susan Meisel are true friends of the Parrish and have helped make the Parrish sustainable, viable, and incredibly relevant for many generations to come,” said Parrish Art Museum Executive Director, Dr. Mónica Ramírez-Montagut.

At the annual benefit event, which supports the museum’s exhibitions, education initiatives, and programs, Dr. Ramírez-Montagut greeted attendees, acknowledged legacy honorees, and introduced Parrish Trustees and Dinner Co-Chairs Catherine Carmody, CJ Follini, Andrea Pemberton, and Charlotte Lucas Pilaro.

Dr. Ramírez-Montagut presented awards to the artists and philanthropic honorees. Rachael White Young of Christie’s led a paddle raise in support of the museum’s programs, exhibitions, and education initiatives. Ramírez-Montagut thanked guests and invited them to end the evening with dancing in the theater to music by DJ M.O.S.

Notable guests at the dinner included honorees KAWS, Sean Scully, Shirin Neshat, and artists Alice Aycock, Tony Bechara, Sanford Biggers, Julia Chiang, Arcmanoro Niles, Liliane Tomasko, Ralph Gibson, Eddie Martinez, Sam Moyer, Jose Parla, Hank Willis Thomas, Enoc Perez, David Smalling, Jeremy Dennis, Futura, and Nina Yankowitz. Also in attendance were philanthropist and author Veronica Atkins, Chief Brand Officer and Co-Owner of Wölffer Estate Vineyard Joey Wölffer, Marc Perez, and President of Bank of America Long Island. Actress Stephanie March and Trustee Nina Sarin Arias, Founder and Creative Director of ARIAS, New York, were also present.

Alexandra Stanton, Co-Chair Board of Trustees, and her husband Sam Natapoff, along with Co-Chair Board of Trustees Frederic Seegal and his wife, Robin Seegal, met guests in the Meadow in the cocktail lounge at the start of the evening.

Parrish Art Museum Board of Trustees: Ejim Achi, Nina Sarin Arias, Deborah F. Bancroft, Catherine Carmody, Sean Cohan, Timothy G. Davis, David Granville-Smith, Lisa Green, Notoya Green, Steven J. Horowitz, Aliya LeeKong, Louis K. Meisel, Laurence Milstein, Martha Mclanahan, Andrea Pemberton, Sandy Perlbinder, Charlotte Lucas Pilaro, Henry Richardson, Yanina Spivack, George Wells, Joey Wölffer.

At the Gala, Dr. Mónica Ramírez-Montagut recognized the recent passing of Dorothy Lichtenstein and Audrey Flack, stating, “Dorothy Lichtenstein, a Parrish Art Museum Life Trustee, whose elegance, grace, enthusiasm, and generous support transformed the lives of many artists, propelled many exhibitions into success, and positively impacted many cultural organizations, had an indelible impact on the Parrish, the East End, New York, and the art world at large. Audrey Flack, whose many talents led her to explore photorealism, then figurative-classical sculpture, and most recently post-pop baroque aesthetics, plus she loved to play the banjo! This past year, we worked closely with Audrey on an exhibition still slated for this upcoming October when we will have the opportunity to pay proper homage to this great force.”

The museum is planning Audrey Flack, Mid-Century to Post-Pop Baroque, a career-spanning exhibition celebrating Audrey and her work that opens on October 13.

MIDSUMMER DINNER PRESENTING SPONSORS: Bank of America, ARIAS New York, South Flagler House, One Flagler, Phillips Point, Lisson Gallery

WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO: Wölffer Estate Vineyard, Campari Group, East Hampton Shucker Company

FRIDAY’S MIDSUMMER DANCE

At the Friday Midsummer Dance event on July 12, Co-Chairs Laurence Milstein, a Parrish Trustee, and Kendall Werts, manager and agent, welcomed guests and DJs Angel + Dren, along with performances by DJ Anna of the North and members of the Parsons Dance troupe. Guests danced on the terrace and enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and desserts by Canard, Inc., amid décor by event designer OVANDO.

MIDSUMMER DANCE PRESENTING SPONSORS: Wells Group of New York, Greenberg Traurig

WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO: Wölffer Estate Vineyard, Campari Group, East Hampton Shucker Company

OPENING WEEKEND FOR THE FOLLOWING EXHIBITIONS:

KAWS: TIME OFF continues the Parrish Art Museum’s legacy of presenting American artists at the forefront of new creative languages and global art movements. This survey exhibition, the first in the East End, explores KAWS’ dynamic range of visual vocabulary and diverse artistic output over the last decade, highlighting his consistent engagement with American popular culture while intentionally exploring boundaries and overlaps between different genres and across mediums. KAWS: TIME OFF is curated by Executive Director Mónica Ramírez-Montagut, with additional support from Brianna L. Hernández, Assistant Curator. KAWS: TIME OFF is made possible, in part, thanks to the generous support of Bank of America; Dior; Skarstedt, New York; Lisa and Mitchell Green; and a donor who wishes to remain anonymous.

JULIA CHIANG: THE GLOWS AND THE BLOWS

The Parrish will present the first-ever solo museum exhibition by painter Julia Chiang. The artist will present new, large-scale paintings and ceramics. Chiang’s painterly process is slow and controlled while spontaneous. Organic shapes coalesce on the picture plane in varying densities of paint and with fervor, scrimmage for territory. She operates in the realm of abstractions, but the body is the basis for her allegories, metaphors, and explorations. Julia Chiang: The Glows and The Blows is made possible, in part, thanks to the generous support of Sarah Arison; Michi Jigarjian; Wolf Kahn Foundation; Nicola Vassell Gallery; Miyoung Lee and Neil Simpkins; and Karen and Dennis Mehiel.