Event producer Ben Bourgeois, who worked with Lacma’s Michael Ruff, strove to create an atmosphere in keeping with the museum’s architecture and artwork: “The party itself is a contemporary art installation,” said Bourgeois, who brought in a temporary 22,000-square-foot steel structure for the dinner portion of the evening. Bourgeois covered the interior of the space, including the walls, tables, and chairs, in white Ultrasuede, and hung 12 cube-shaped light installations (also covered in Ultrasuede) with bottom panels lit using programmable plasma-screen tiles.

Lionel Richie performed during the dinner, as did musician William Joseph, who performed his rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Kashmir” on a floating stage that descended from the structure's ceiling. Once the stage hit the floor, the structure’s south wall dropped, revealing BCAM. “[Joseph’s] new version of 'Kashmir' is very contemporary, uplifting, and motivating, and it has a great crescendo that is the perfect moment to reveal the museum,” Bourgeois said. “It’s has a little bit of old married with something modern for the reveal.”

Guests followed an illuminated central plexi floor path glowing in red—complementing the prominent red accents of the museum’s architecture—to view the inaugural installation. Members of an electronic violin orchestra sat on pedestals uplit in red and played “Kashmir” as attendees strolled from the structure to the museum.   —Rosalba Curiel