MoMA PS1 Gala Honors Artist Kara Walker And Philanthropist Emily Wei Rales, Raising Over $1.8 Million Amid National Threat To The Arts

As our nation’s beloved arts institutions and organizations confront potential gargantuan cuts to federal funding, the enduring bond between artists and philanthropists is more crucial than ever. Scaling back the diversity and accessibility of arts programs erodes the quality of life for every American, as art is necessary for evoking emotion in the collective human journey to attain empathy.

A chic crowd – many flaunting the fluidly and flamboyance that is at risk along with vital arts funding – gathered beneath a tent in the MoMA PS1 courtyard to illuminate a blustery evening by honoring New York-based artist Kara Walker and Emily Wei Rales, director and co-founder of Glenstone, a free museum located just outside Washington, D.C. in Potomac, Maryland. Artists, collectors, philanthropists, and art world luminaries came together to celebrate at the MoMA PS1 2025 Annual Gala and to raise more than $1.8 million.

“This year’s honorees, Emily Wei Rales and Kara Walker, are deeply aligned with MoMA PS1’s mission, whose work amplifying art and artists resonates within New York and around the world,” said MoMA PS1’s Agnes Gund Director Connie Butler. “It’s a privilege to celebrate their distinct and lasting influence on the artistic landscape.”

Revelers took cover under a sweeping fabric installation by New York-based painter, multi-media installation artist, and sculptor Eric N. Mack, and enjoyed an inventive vegetarian, pescatarian, and vegan menu by chef, artist, and social activist Omar Tate, renowned for his singular embrace and interpretation of Black culinary traditions. The festivities kicked into high gear, as strangers became fast friends on the dance floor, connected by their commitment to the arts, during an after party conceived by New York-based artist, musician, and producer DonChristian Jones. A live performance by Demi and The Band and vinyl sets by Ms. Carrie Stacks and Persona La Ave elevated the mood.

As the inaugural Adobe Creative Resident at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in Manhattan, their recent exhibition DonChristian Jones: The Sumptuous Discovery of Gotham a Go-Go (January 30, 2025—April 28, 2025) presented an installation inspired by their Bed-Stuy studio, home to Public Assistants (PA, est. 2020), a safe space for queer and trans people of color to skill-share, create, and cultivate joy. Their inquiry spills into MoMA PS1 in Long Island City, Queens, where Jones has created a clandestine study that imagines a portal into their “double life” over the past 15 years, teaching and painting by day and rapping and performing at night. Jones marries design elements inspired by film noir, Blaxploitation films, the Harlem Renaissance, and contemporary Ballroom culture. Last night’s after-party offered an inclusive and welcoming environment, where folks flopped on an array of comfy sofas to take a break from dancing.

“I grew up in a strange situation where I was around working artists all the time, and artists who are working without glory or compensation and working for the sake of making that art and those people are all around us all the time. And being in the city that has arts organizations like PS1 is a real privilege, but I do think, especially with the time that we’re living in, with the arts being defunded, we also need to think a little bit about the places like what used to be Nexus (a grassroots artists’ cooperative that has grown into Atlanta Contemporary, one of the southeast’s leading contemporary art centers), which was like a mini PS1 in an old schoolhouse, and those communities that are underserved, and those artists who could use a lift up and would love to be standing here,” Walker told gala guests.

Walker, whose work honestly and bravely examines race, gender, sexuality, and violence through silhouetted figures, is a towering figure in the art world who exemplifies the ethos of MoMA PS1. By amplifying art and artists at the intersection of urgent contemporaneous social, cultural, and political concerns, MoMA PS1 invites visitors to inquire, learn, and engage in public debate for more than four decades. Founded in 1976, a nineteenth-century public schoolhouse was transformed into the city’s seminal alternative art space, and became affiliated with MoMA in 2000. PS1 became a member of New York City’s Cultural Institutions Group (CIG) in 1982.

Though her abundant support of the arts speaks loudly, Wei Rales acknowledged last night that she shuns the spotlight.

“I like my work to be invisible. The gifting that Glenstone does is typically behind the scenes. We do it quietly,” said Wei Rales. “This is a very strange place for me to be up here standing in front of you at a podium. And if you were to talk to my team at Glenstone, you would hear from them that my approach to my work is that we do everything possible to execute an artist’s vision, to make it a reality, we create the conditions, the ideal conditions for the public to experience that artwork, and then we get out of the way. If we’ve done our job well, you will not perceive that we’ve even been there, the staff, the people who make the exhibitions, the incredible team that we cultivate at Glenstone.”

Nobody was invisible last night, thanks to the shared spirit of keeping art relevant, ensuring that artists are championed, and all Americans have a space at the canvas.