Hired by the Whitney's senior manager of special events, Sarah Milestone, Lewis Miller took his lead from the museum's new exhibition "Summer of Love: Art of the Psychedelic Era" and designed an open layout with fairly simple accents, leaving the rest to White and his trademark effects.
Small touches like moving light projections on the floor and reflective surfaces (on the bar and the side tables) added to the psychedelic aesthetic in the cocktail area. Guests themselves, many in dresses from sponsor BCBG Max Azria, got into the groove with makeup and hair accessories at one of two stations from cosmetics company MAC. And after last year's problems with crowding, Miller opted to move the area for the silent auction (sponsored by Sotheby's and MasterCard) to a larger, more open room. (The comparatively well-lit space didn't take on any dizzying thematic elements; artwork was placed neatly around the perimeter.)