El Museo Gala 2013

El Museo del Barrio held it’s annual Gala on Thursday, May 16, at Cipriani 42nd Street, in New York City. The Gala honored actor Raúl Esparza with the Excellence in the Arts Award, Ramiro Ortiz Mayorga with the Trustee Leadership Award, and Ricardo Villela Marino, CEO, Latin America Banco Itaú Unibanco with the Corporate Excellence in the Arts Award. The Gala Chairs were Valentino D. Carlotti, Fe Fendi, Valentin Hernández, and Marie Unanue. The Gala raised more than one million dollars for the museum.

Over 600 guests were greeted with a specialty cocktail created by MundoFox in honor of El Museo’s Gala; this replaced the Cipriani Bellini. MundoFox was the sponsor of the 2013 Gala. Jerónimo Gaxiola Balsa designed the event’s décor; the Gala featured music by The Bob Hardwick Sound, led by Bob Hardwick, and music by DJ Honey Redmond who was able to keep guests dancing till midnight.

Artist Firelei Báez (Dominican Republic, 1980) painted the table clothes that were showcased on many of the dinner tables. El Museo’s Chief Curator Chus Martínez chose her for the gala’s “art intervention” saying “Firelei Báez is an artist based in El Barrio. She produced a special project for all of us – a series of painted mantelpieces and ornamental elements. They are intense, colorful, and extravagant at moments. They convey the force of old myths from the Caribbean region. The paint should be understood as a being, full of force and the work produced for the night as a magical apparition to produce and perform a ritual communal event: the act of supporting, with our presence, art and its community.” The artwork (tablecloths) were auctioned off at the end of the evening and raised $20,000 with proceeds benefiting El Museo.

Guest included: Maria & Alejandro Aguirre, Mariana & José Auriemo, Coromoto Atencio, The Honorable Michael R. Bloomberg, Lynda & Richard, Baquero, Dr. Joyce Brown, Tony Bechara (Chair of El Museo’s Board), Cathy Boyanovich, Estellita and Daniel Brodsky, Valentino D. Carlotti, Patricia & Patrick Callahan,Barbara Cirkva, Maria Cornejo, Jacqueline Weld-Drake and Rodman Drake, Michelle & Raul Esparza, Fe and Alessandro Fendi, Paola Fendi, Lucia Hwong Gordon, Yaz (President of El Museo’s Board) and Valentin Hernández, Paloma Herrera, Dr. William A. Haseltine & Maria Eugenia Maury, Michael Kaiser, Eleanora and Michael Kennedy, Alexandra Lebenthal, Kamie Lightburn, Laura Lie & William Lie Zeckendorf, Patricia Villela & Ricardo Villela Marino, Chus Martínez (El Museo’s Chief Curator), Jaime Mayol (host of MundoFox’s Atrevete a Cantar), Marlon Moreno (actor, MundoFox’s series El Capo), Gillian & Sylvester Minter, Enique Norten, Patricia Guardian de Ortiz de Ortiz & Ramiro Ortiz Mayorga, Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Angel Otero, Geraldine Paz, Enoc Perez, Carmen Ana & Joseph Unanue, Marie & Andy Unanue, Darcy & John Rigas, Marco Antonio Regil (TV host of MundoFox’s Minuto Para Ganar), Agatha Ruiz De La Prada, Narciso Rodriguez, Lady Cristiana Falcone Sorrell, Emiliano Saccone (President, MundoFox), Yolanda Santos, John Schumacher, Jean and Martin Shafiroff, Patricia & Tom Shiah, José Solis Betancourt, and Carlo Tunioli (President at Benetton USA).

This year’s Honorary Committee included: Pedro Almodovar, Glenda Baily and Stephen Sumner, Hamish Bowles, Tania Bruguera, Edmundo Castillo, Maria Cornejo, Francisco Costa, Cameron Diaz, Pamela Herrera, David Maupin, Vik Muniz, Angel Otero, Enoc Perez, Liliana Porter, Narciso Rodriguez, Angel Sanchez, Hunt Slonem, Joses Solis Betancourt, Raul Suaraz, Mario Testino, Isabel & Ruben Toledo, andStefano Tonchi.
Junior Council included: Carolina Alvarez-Mathies, Chrissy Crawford, Rebecca Fuente, Paige Gamble, Susanna Hong, Andrew Huszar, Susan Jaramillo, Jerome Levy, Evan List, Norma Lujan, Christine Miller Martin, Jennifer Mora, Carlos Ponce, Leticia Presutti, Camila Rachmanis, Joseph Rivera, Gabriel Rivera-Barraza, Oscar Rodriguez, Amanda Van Voorhees, Sabrina Wirth and Lisa Yom.

El Museo del Barrio, New York’s leading Latino cultural institution, welcomes 250,000 visitors annually to discover the artistic landscape of Latino, Caribbean, and Latin American cultures. Their richness is represented in El Museo’s critically acclaimed exhibitions and wide-ranging collections, film, literary, visual and performing arts series, cultural celebrations, and educational programs. A dynamic artistic and community gathering place, El Museo is a center of cultural pride on New York’s museum mile. For additional information, go to www.elmuseo.org.

Photo credit: Owen Hoffman/Patrick McMullan Company.