Agnes "Aggie" Gund, Sanka heiress and beloved president of the Museum of Modern Art, was this year's honoree at MoMA's Party in the Garden, which was held away from the museum for the first time in its 34-year history due to MoMA's current renovations. The event—one of our Top 100—took over the Altman Building for the cocktail hour and after-party, with dinner next-door at the Metropolitan Pavilion. The party raised a record $5.1 million dollars, thanks to the larger capacity of this year's venue. (Maybe MoMA should always have it there, call it the Party in the Indoor Garden, and staple trees to the walls like they did for last year's benefit?)
For cocktails in the Altman, Bill Tansey of Tansey Design Associates used a stark, simple black and white motif, with custom made furniture topped with huge pillows. Cocktail tables were decorated with lush white peonies in small square glass vases and black and white geometric cardboard cutout confetti. Three large easels with blank canvases were set out for party guests to write congratulatory messages to Gund.
Down a short, tented and carpeted stretch of sidewalk to the Metropolitan Pavilion, the dining room glowed with a whimsical decor scheme that employed primary colors and steel bucketfuls of bachelor button flowers for centerpieces. Tables were covered with red, yellow or blue tablecloths, and more geometric cutout confetti in contrasting colors were scattered in the center. Brightly colored place cards and menus designed by Matthew Sporzynski of Couturier de Cardboard were at each place setting. Plasma screens from Gorman Multimedia Communications were set around the room so guests in the far corners of the room could see the action onstage at the front of the room. The Wynton Marsalis Quartet gave a special performance, and DJ Tom Finn spun at the after-party back at the Altman, which hosted 600 additional guests.
—Suzanne Ito
Read about last year's Party in the Garden...
See the cute cake at this event...
See another take on a black and white look...
For cocktails in the Altman, Bill Tansey of Tansey Design Associates used a stark, simple black and white motif, with custom made furniture topped with huge pillows. Cocktail tables were decorated with lush white peonies in small square glass vases and black and white geometric cardboard cutout confetti. Three large easels with blank canvases were set out for party guests to write congratulatory messages to Gund.
Down a short, tented and carpeted stretch of sidewalk to the Metropolitan Pavilion, the dining room glowed with a whimsical decor scheme that employed primary colors and steel bucketfuls of bachelor button flowers for centerpieces. Tables were covered with red, yellow or blue tablecloths, and more geometric cutout confetti in contrasting colors were scattered in the center. Brightly colored place cards and menus designed by Matthew Sporzynski of Couturier de Cardboard were at each place setting. Plasma screens from Gorman Multimedia Communications were set around the room so guests in the far corners of the room could see the action onstage at the front of the room. The Wynton Marsalis Quartet gave a special performance, and DJ Tom Finn spun at the after-party back at the Altman, which hosted 600 additional guests.
—Suzanne Ito
Read about last year's Party in the Garden...
See the cute cake at this event...
See another take on a black and white look...