Swizz Beatz, Mickalene Thomas, And More Attend Brooklyn Artists Ball At The Brooklyn Museum

Photo Credit: Nick Hunt/Getty for Brooklyn Museum

Last night, April 17, over 700 guests attended the Brooklyn Museum’s glam rock themed gala, The Brooklyn Artists Ball, which raised over $1.5M in support of the museum’s exhibition and education programs.

Photo Credit: Nick Hunt/Getty for Brooklyn Museum

The Brooklyn Artists Ball, is the annual fundraising gala held at the Brooklyn Museum, celebrating the creative community and individuals who support the change we want to see in the world.

Photo Credit: Nick Hunt/Getty Images for Brooklyn Museum

The evening began with the best of Bowie playing over the speakers as guests enjoyed cocktails while silver spandex-clad dancers performed synchronized movements on podiums. Partiers popped into the BMW parked in lobby to perform car karaoke, and a lucky few snagged a spot in the “Mick Rock Experience,” which included a portrait shot by the legendary Rock photographer.

Photo Credit: Nick Hunt/Getty for Brooklyn Museum

When it came time for dinner, guests were ushered by the enthusiastic dancers upstairs to the Beaux Arts Court, which was transformed by David Stark’s team into a cascade of color, tinsel, and feather boas hanging from ceiling to the tables below.

Photo Credit: Nick Hunt/Getty Images for Brooklyn Museum

Anne Pasternak, Brooklyn Museum’s Shelby White and Leon Levy Director, welcomed the crowd, exclaiming, “It’s because of you that the Brooklyn Museum is on the path to becoming the most trailblazing and courageous museum on the planet.”

Photo Credit: Nick Hunt/Getty Images for Brooklyn Museum

She then invited the evening’s honorees, artists Robert Gober and Donald Moffett, to the stage where the duo, wondered aloud, “How do you follow Alicia Keys?” – a nod to one of last year’s honorees, before articulating how honored they were “to be honored.”

Gober and Moffett’s brief remarks ultimately underscored the couple’s ties to activism and highlighted the overall event’s longtime commitment artistic expression and truth.

Photo Credit: Nick Hunt/Getty for Brooklyn Museum

After dinner, guests moved back downstairs to the Museum’s lobby where they were joined by hundreds of other party goers to dance the night away to music and performances by DJ Runna, Adrian Young, DJ Kindness, and the one-and-only Swizz Beatz. Swizz ended the night on a high note, getting the crowd going with a mix of old school favorites and giving a shout-out from the gold garland-covered DJ booth: “I’m from the Bronx, but I feel like I’m at home in Brooklyn tonight!”

Photo Credit: Nick Hunt/Getty Images for Brooklyn Museum

Attendees included: Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean (recording artist/record producer), Mick Rock (rock photographer); Mickalene Thomas (artist); Dustin Yellin (artists); Mel Chin (artist); Brian “KAWS” Donnelly (artist); José Parla (artist); Will Cotton (artist); Mike Starn (artist); Derrick Adams (artist); Cindi Leive (former magazine editor); Charles Blow (journalist); Dao Yi Chow (fashion designer); Wes Gordon (fashion designer); Aurora James (fashion designer); Mia Moretti (actress/DJ/model); Adam Selman (fashion designer); David Stark (event designer); Marianne Boesky (gallerist); along with Anne Pasternak (The Shelby White and Leon Levy Director, Brooklyn Museum); and Philanthropists Sarah Arison; Stephanie Ingrassia; Carla Shen and Christopher Schott; Barbara and John Vogelstein; Olivia Song and Scott Rofey; Robert Soros; Tony Visconti; Lisa and Dick Cashin; Tom Healy; Leslie and David Puth; Tracey Riese; Sara and Marc Schiller; Dana Ben-Ari and Nikola Duravcevic, among others.

Photo Credit: Nick Hunt/Getty for Brooklyn Museum

Photo Credit: Nick Hunt/Getty for Brooklyn Museum