PAMM Raises $1 Million in Three-Part Gala Honoring Chuck Close

PAMM’s Third Annual Art of the Party gala on Friday, March 4, raised more than $1 million for the museum’s education program. Funds came from more than 800 cultural philanthropists, artists, civic leaders and arts supporters who attended three different parties within a party.

The well-orchestrated event was conceptualized by Lee Brian Schrager, featured a Chef’s Table seated dinner, Supper Club lounge and Remix after party – with delicious dishes created by chef, author and Food Network personality Alex Guarnaschelli.

The Chef’s Table Dinner was an outdoor, waterfront affair hosted by Chairs Elle MacPherson and Jeffrey Soffer, Constance and Miguel “Mike” Fernandez, Darlene and Jorge M. Pérez and Kara and Stephen Ross. Guests included heavy hitters like Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez; Collector and PAMM Trustee Craig Robins and Patricia and Phillip Frost. 

At the Chef’s Table seated dinner, Pérez Art Museum Miami Director Franklin Sirmans honored Chuck Close, one of the most celebrated and influential artists of our time. The museum holds three examples of Close’s work in its permanent collection and in 2004, the museum presented the exhibition Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration, which explored the artist’s innovative approach to printmaking.

Going on at the same time upstairs in the museum’s second-floor special exhibition galleries, a slightly more boisterous party was taking place at The Supper Club, hosted by Tara Soloman and Nick D’Annunzio, Soledad and Justin Lowe and Elana Jones and Dirk DeSouza along with Rachel and Roy Benmeir. 

Supper Club partygoers enjoyed a chic and provocative setting with live sets by DJ DZA and interactive art stations, including digital sketch artists and a wall to ceiling coloring book.

As the party started winding down, Supper Club guests were led to the Remix after party by a seven-piece band where they joined Chefs Table guests and those who arrived to enjoy part three, which included an oversize “Lite-Brite” style interactive installation, a professional portrait station positioned in front of the museum’s famous vertical gardens and dancing under the stars to DJ Jessica Who.