Last year the Bronx Museum of the Arts raised $1 million to acquire new art and this year at their annual Spring Gala & Auction they broke a record, grossing over $650,000 at the event.
In recent years the Bronx Museum of the Arts has become more aggressive in bringing the arts to the community and also bringing the Bronx art scene to the world.
Meanwhile, the Bronx Museum of Arts held its Spring Gala across the street from Goldman’s headquarters, guaranteeing proximity to a hall of titans, if not a party full of them. The location at the Conrad Hotel was also close to City Hall, making it easy for Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to drop by (she spoke of painting a mural in the Bronx with the museum), as well as Council member Vanessa L. Gibson.
The event was the museum’s largest, grossing more than $650,000, said its executive director, Holly Block. The lowest-priced “Bruckner Boulevard Tickets” were $650; the highest-priced “Grand Concourse” seats were $4167.
Education Focus
Royal Bank of Canada (RY)’s Marybeth Mandanas, who heads the corporate banking group in power and utilities, is entering her third year as a board member for the museum.“As a woman trying to get more experience professionally, I was looking to join a board,” Mandanas said. She met Block at an event at her former firm, Citigroup Inc. With three children, she was drawn to the museum’s focus on education.
The Bronx museum’s reach in the art world is also impressive: last year the museum oversaw the U.S. pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
“Our job is to make sure the museum’s thesis is broad enough,” Mandanas said. “We can’t serve just the Bronx, because there’s not enough means there to do that.”
Congratulations to the Bronx Museum of the Arts on such a successful event and for their commitment to provide free access to the Arts as well as the wonderful educational programing they provide our youth.
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