Dia Art Foundation’s fall gala could easily stand to move up a week on the calendar. The dramatic setting of the Church of the Intercession and the autumnal woods of neighboring Trinity Park practically beg to host a Halloween party. And though the holiday was long over by Friday night, when 315 guests made the trek up to 155th and Broadway, it was hard to deny its lingering presence in the dark decor.
Guests had the chance to explore the Hispanic Society of America’s new Zoe Leonard photography exhibition, "Deroterro," before making their way to the cocktail tent set up in the society’s courtyard. Leonard's work focuses on the storefronts and window displays of New York shops during gentrification, and the $625,000 raised during the evening will fund exhibitions like it at Dia’s three outposts.
The modestly decorated cocktail tent, punctuated with red, velvety flowers in towering glass cylinders, soon emptied for dinner in the neighboring church. Guests sat for the Abigail Kirsch meal while a small troupe from the Trisha Brown Dance Company performed two pieces, one at the altar and another between the rows of tables. The room itself adopted a candlelit glow similar to last year’s event, but with the incorporation of redder hues.
Once again partnering with Dia and event producer MF Productions, designer Jeff Leatham gave the stone hall the look of glowing embers with soft spotlights on the church walls and dozens of candles housed within interlocking grids of red Plexiglas at each table.
