Last year’s big benefit for the New York Academy of Art may have had the same theme—“La Dolce Vita”—but the aesthetic at this year’s Tribeca Ball was completely different. Sponsor Dolce & Gabbana gave the event an elegant blue and silver scheme, with a polished, opulent—but not ostentatious—look.
Simone and David Levinson were the dinner’s chairs, Dolce & Gabbana vice president of communications Lisa Monteleone oversaw the event, and the fashion house’s creative services department designed the decor.
In keeping with the blue and silver look, red carpet was nowhere in sight—instead, a plush blue carpet paved the entry to Skylight for a stylish crowd of socialites, art patrons, and creative types like actress-artist Anh Duong, artist Andres Serrano (remember the “Piss Christ” incident?), and actor Liev Schreiber. In all, 350 guests raised $600,000 for the institution’s work to preserve the tradition of drawing, painting, and sculpture depicting the human form.
Inside, guests mingled during the cocktail hour along the venue’s long white hallway, a natural setting for a display of work from the academy’s students. A nook off of the gallery space was a makeshift studio setting, complete with a live nude model and students at work behind easels.
The contrast between the cocktail area and the dining room was noticeable—compared to the stark white space, the dining room was a dark, shimmering space, with rows and rows of tall silver candelabras lining long, mirror-topped tables. Combined with the sparkling effect of candlelight, silver, and the tables’ reflective surfaces, walls were washed in a blue haze. Dolce & Gabbana’s designers mixed candelabras of different heights from Ruth Fischl on each table. Some of the lower pieces had bowls in the center stuffed with Black Magic roses and pendulous bunches of dark red grapes for a Bacchanalian effect.
With an Italian theme and an Italian sponsor, there was—naturally—an Italian menu, executed by Creative Edge Parties, with an assortment of antipasti that included cannellini beans with charred tomatoes and crispy zucchini bagna cauda. For dinner, a filet of beef was served with mascarpone polenta and sautéed spinach. Four square containers with a selection of sauces were clustered together and accompanied the entree on rectangular plates.
—Mark Mavrigian
Photos: Billy Farrell/Patrick McMullan Photography (artist, food)
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Simone and David Levinson were the dinner’s chairs, Dolce & Gabbana vice president of communications Lisa Monteleone oversaw the event, and the fashion house’s creative services department designed the decor.
In keeping with the blue and silver look, red carpet was nowhere in sight—instead, a plush blue carpet paved the entry to Skylight for a stylish crowd of socialites, art patrons, and creative types like actress-artist Anh Duong, artist Andres Serrano (remember the “Piss Christ” incident?), and actor Liev Schreiber. In all, 350 guests raised $600,000 for the institution’s work to preserve the tradition of drawing, painting, and sculpture depicting the human form.
Inside, guests mingled during the cocktail hour along the venue’s long white hallway, a natural setting for a display of work from the academy’s students. A nook off of the gallery space was a makeshift studio setting, complete with a live nude model and students at work behind easels.
The contrast between the cocktail area and the dining room was noticeable—compared to the stark white space, the dining room was a dark, shimmering space, with rows and rows of tall silver candelabras lining long, mirror-topped tables. Combined with the sparkling effect of candlelight, silver, and the tables’ reflective surfaces, walls were washed in a blue haze. Dolce & Gabbana’s designers mixed candelabras of different heights from Ruth Fischl on each table. Some of the lower pieces had bowls in the center stuffed with Black Magic roses and pendulous bunches of dark red grapes for a Bacchanalian effect.
With an Italian theme and an Italian sponsor, there was—naturally—an Italian menu, executed by Creative Edge Parties, with an assortment of antipasti that included cannellini beans with charred tomatoes and crispy zucchini bagna cauda. For dinner, a filet of beef was served with mascarpone polenta and sautéed spinach. Four square containers with a selection of sauces were clustered together and accompanied the entree on rectangular plates.
—Mark Mavrigian
Photos: Billy Farrell/Patrick McMullan Photography (artist, food)
Related Stories
Tribeca Ball Guests Live La Dolce Vita
Tribeca Ball Has Glam Bohemian Look
The dining area at the New York Academy of Art’s Tribeca Ball glittered with rows of tables holding tall silver candelabras interspersed with lower pieces adorned with roses and pendulous bunches of grapes.
Instead of a red carpet, the ball had a plush blue carpet that matched its blue and silver look.
Creative Edge Parties served entrees of filet of beef with mascarpone polenta and sautéed spinach. The long rectangular plates held a collection of four sauces grouped in cube-like containers.
Students studied a nude model and created works in a makeshift studio setting during the cocktail hour.
