Bronx Museum Gala And Auction Raises Over $800,000 To Amplify Under-Respected Artists

From Elizabeth Catlett’s terra-cotta head Elvira (1997) – a universal celebration of the goddess within every woman – to Sanford Biggers’ roughly six-foot-tall woodcut Afropick (2005) – headed by a fist clenched in a Black Power salute – The Bronx Museum of the Arts is a comprehensive art historical retelling of great artists whose work has too often been overlooked, undermined, or cast aside by the broader global art world. Beyond artists like Catlett and Biggers – who have earned renown as influential masters, but not the art market compensation of their white peers – The Bronx Museum shines a spotlight on emerging artists whose work challenges cultural and social norms and whisks viewers out of their comfort zones. Whether it is the elegance of interdisciplinary artist Miguel Braceli’s Here Lies a Flag (2021) which combats settler colonialism, or the macabre glam of Afro-Caribbean conceptual artist Yelaine Rodriguez’s La Hija de Shango immersive altars, which explores Afro-diasporic resistance and cultural inheritance, there is much to be learned in any visit to the permanent collection or special exhibitions.

As ​​U.S. museum funding faces uncertainty following President Trump’s executive order calling for the elimination of the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), it is more important than ever to support our precious and essential creative and cultural resources.

The precarity of access to funding arts magnified the joy emanating from the Tribeca Rooftop last week when The Bronx Museum raised more than $800,000 in its ongoing efforts to amplify artists whose identities have been historically marginalized and to engage audiences in The Bronx and beyond through free exhibitions, arts education, and programming.

The glamorous fete honored pioneering visual artist FUTURA 2000 with the Trailblazer Award, presented by graffiti artist Zephyr. The museum paid homage to the evolution of the New York artist (born Leonard Hilton McGurr) from early graffiti to contemporary abstraction during a retrospective that closed last month. In the most comprehensive gaze into FUTURA 2000’s half-century career, BREAKING OUT showcased his sculptures, drawings, prints, studies, collaborations, and archival paraphernalia dating from the 1970s to the present, along with new site-specific temporary installations.

The Bronx Museum was founded in 1971, just as FUTURA 2000 began making his mark on the city through street art. FUTURA 2000 fluidly transported his practice to the studio, drawing spray paint, aerosol, and stencils into an innovative creative journey into abstraction.

“Our deepest appreciation goes out to everyone who supported The Bronx Museum’s 2025 Gala & Art Auction (April 7) evening where we celebrated our three stellar honorees. We are especially grateful to our board of trustees for their generosity and fundraising savvy, our gala host committee, and, of course, our gala sponsors,” said Interim Co-Directors Shirley Solomon and Yvonne Garcia. “Thank you as well to the talented artists who donated their work to our auction. Proceeds from the evening will continue furthering our mission of making contemporary art accessible to all and uplifting artists who have historically been excluded from the art historical narrative.”

The gala also awarded Kingston, New York, and Chicago-based artist Ebony G. Patterson, a MacArthur Fellowship (Genius Grant) winner in 2024 for Visual Arts, with the Visionary Award, presented by Miranda Lash, chief curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), Denver. Patterson’s 2023 installation at the New York Botanical Garden, some four miles north of the museum, opened a dialogue about our relationships to post-colonial gardens and the natural world.

“I aim to elevate those who have been deemed invisible/un-visible as a result of inherited colonial social structures, by incorporating their words, thoughts, dress, and pageantry as a tactic to memorialize them. It is a way to say: ‘I am here, and you cannot deny me,’” Patterson said.

Recognizing the need to identify and support local artists, as well as those who give back to the community, the museum bestowed The Bronx Creative Vanguard Award to Abbott Stillman, presented by eponymous gallery owner Brigitte Mulholland. Abbott abandoned a successful career creating award-winning buildings to transform into an influential painter.

The 2025 live auction was conducted by Kimberly Pirtle of Sotheby’s, featuring artworks by Ethiopian-born American contemporary artist Awol Erizku, The Bronx- and Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico-based artist Gamaliel Rodríguez, Stillman, and FUTURA 2000, as well an exclusive studio visit with artist Rashid Johnson.

PLEASE NOTE: A transformative renovation of The Bronx Museum is currently underway, and all exhibitions and events will take place in the north galleries during construction, all exhibitions and events will take place in the north galleries. The south galleries will reopen when construction is complete in 2026.