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Art Production Fund knows how to tackle a theme. This year, the public art organization brought its cruise aesthetic to the Seagram Building’s Pool and Grill in midtown Manhattan for its annual gala hosted by Saks. The theme was “Overboard,” and attendees embraced the nautical theme by wearing shell-embellished headbands and earrings, striped ensembles, and shades of blue. One of the participants carried around a rhinestone clutch in the shape of a cruise ship. Andy Potamkin had a sailboat parked in the foamy tulle of his headpiece.
“The day after the last gala, I said, ‘Oh, that was so much fun. What are we going to do next year?'” Executive Director Casey Fremont said. “We were in a restaurant that looked like a porthole, and I thought, ‘What if we had a boat theme?’ We like themes that people can interpret in different ways. ”
There were even a few mermaids in the room. One of them was sitting on a lounge chair set up on The Grill’s “upper deck” next to a bucket of L’Allier Champagne, one of the evening’s sponsors, and spa-style slippers. Servers wearing captain’s hats handed out trays of pina coladas and blue margaritas, each wrapped in a Sachs-branded paper umbrella. On the wall above the chaise lounge in the room is a round life preserver from Galabrand, co-founder of Art Production Fund Yvonne Force, who met Mr. Salahuber during cocktail hour when Mr. Villarreal met him. Nearby, Zoe Bachman admires Derrick Adams earrings, both artists present projects in collaboration with Art Production Fund, and Drew Barrymore takes her daughter to Oyster Station I was chatting with Stacey Bendet near the.
Other guests included Olivia Wilde, Dianna Agron and Harold Ankert, Sophia Bush, Paul Arnhold and Wes Gordon, Jennifer Fisher, Mickalene Thomas, Todd Snyder, Cynthia Rowley, and Kennedy Janko. Debbie Harry was among those who led the way to the pool for dinner, where her embroidered sailing jacket served as a seat marker.
As guests settled into the appetizer course of the live bar selection, three performers made their way to the central pool and stepped over the edge into the bubbling water. As with most things involving the Arts Production Fund, this was an artistic moment. The organization asked Sikies to create that night’s performance. The piece, titled “Visiting Hours,” pays homage to his community of queers who gathered on the Hudson River pier during the ’60s and ’70s.
Fremont then directed the room’s attention to the roll of paper pushed into the shot glass at each setting. “Sarah Huber has once again curated tonight’s menu. It’s our little message in a shot glass, and as always, it’s delicious.”
A live art auction after dinner raised $250,000 to support upcoming Art Production Fund projects, including a Rockefeller Center commission with Joel Messler and an installation with Maia Ruth Lee in New Orleans.
Derrick Adams, Francesco Bonami, Michael Chuapoko.
Nina Westervelt/WWD
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