George Lucas and Mellody Hobson Were Honored and Anderson .Paak Performed at the Museum of Modern Art’s Party in the Garden

Tuesday night, the Museum of Modern Art hosted its annual “Party in the Garden” for the first time since the pandemic. The festivities constituted a celebration of art in its endless forms.

Despite a faint drizzle, the city’s glittering set poured into the institution’s modernist sculpture garden, designed by famed architect Philip Johnson. Creative entrepreneurs (Tamara Mellon, Dasha Zhukova) mingled with business tycoons (Henry Kravis, Michael Bloomberg), while dealers (Marc Glimcher, Larry Gagosian) caught up with artists (Derrick Adams, Cindy Sherman). Cocktails circulated the colorful crowd, whose joyful energy infused the reunion. 

Inside, an extravagant banquet awaited. Tables overflowed with flowers of seemingly countless varieties and colors. A fresh feast of halibut and burrata captured the flavors of the season. 

Following the main course, legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese took the stage to introduce two guests of honor, George Lucas and his wife, Mellody Hobson. A friend of Scorsese for over 50 years, Lucas created the inestimably influential Star Wars and Indiana Jones anthologies. The two men, destined to become two of America’s most celebrated moviemakers, met in their early twenties when both were struggling to finance their first pictures. 

“We were, of course, from vastly different worlds,” Scorsese said of their unlikely friendship. “And driven to make, obviously, drastically different movies. But the differences didn’t seem to matter.”

If Lucas is best known for his technologically innovative creation of fully imagined worlds—an extraterrestrial kingdom, a civilization buried under ancient sands—Scorsese is known for his unflinching, historically specific portrayals of cities and their people. “He is an artist who sees the future,” Scorsese said of Lucas. “He shapes the future.”

In a generous token of their kinship, Lucas and Hobson established the Martin Scorsese Institute of Global Cinematic Arts at New York University. “I remember when George told me he was establishing a Virtual Production Center in my name,” Scorsese laughed, noting he is “known for having shot all his films on location for the last 50 years.”

After Lucas spoke a few words of gratitude—“I’m not a speaker,” he admitted. “That’s why I married her.”—Hobson was honored for her contributions to the arts. Hobson is the president and co-CEO of Ariel Investments, the largest minority-owned investment firm.   

“For George and me,” Hobson said as she took the stage, “This [honor] is personal. We have a backstory related to MoMA—specifically, like many, we had one of our first dates at MoMA.” 

Beyond the full-circle moment, Hobson described the transformative power of art, the force that united all in attendance. Artists Linda Goode Bryant and Wolfgang Tillmans, both of whom are subjects of major exhibitions this fall, were recognized for their work. 

Of course, following the dinner, a festive after-party ensued. The energy was vibrant and electric. Guests danced late into the night as performers, including Anderson .Paak and Michael Brun took turns serenading the floor.