The New Museum Gala Celebrated the End of an Era for Lisa Phillips—But the Future of Downtown Art

Chloë SevignyYvonne Tnt/BFA.com

Cipriani South Street was in full bloom on Monday evening, thanks to The New Museum. The lower Manhattan venue was bursting with pink and orange flowers for the art institution’s annual gala—though the boldest blossoms came from the guests themselves. Though no dress code was in place, most arrived in their best printed, embroidered, and sequined floral attire, furthering the event’s sense of joy, levity, and renewal.

Indeed, there was plenty to celebrate. The evening honored the beloved outgoing Toby Devan Lewis director Lisa Phillips, who will be stepping down from her position after 27 years at the institution. And shortly after the gala’s cocktail hour, it was happily announced that previous fundraising records had been broken, as the event had amassed $2.7 million in donations (and counting).

The recent opening of the museum’s second building was also the toast of the night. Its new space currently hosts the sweeping exhibition New Humans: Memories of the Future, featuring works from Sophia Al-Maria, Berenice Olmedo, Jamian Juliano-Villani, and a variety of artists focused on creativity and humanity’s relationship to evolving technology. Plus, a new café is not far behind. Guests including Jeff Koons, Pamela Hanson, Jamie Singer Soros, and honorary committee chair Chloë Sevigny—fittingly clad in Chloé florals—were understandably all in high spirits.

“There’s very few institutions downtown that have this caliber of curation,” Sevigny told Vogue. “It’s exciting that people can be hanging out at the parks, Washington Square, Tompkins, and just walk over to the museum. Sometimes, the trek uptown can be a little intimidating.”

Inside the event, the crowd mingled over bubbling pink bellinis, enjoying zucchini chips and miniature club sandwiches while perusing a silk charmeuse painting by Cindy Sherman and stoneware busts by Rashid Johnson, which were all up for auction. Most disregarded the initial seating announcement to snap photos with Phillips, whose impactful tenure includes championing diverse contemporary artists, co-founding its NEW INC incubator program, and co-curating six Whitney Biennials.