Guild Hall’s 38th Annual Academy Of The Arts Achievement Awards Dinner

Guild Hall celebrated the 38th annual Academy of the Arts Achievement Awards Dinner on Wednesday, April 3, at the iconic Rainbow Room in New York City. The event, which recognizes the lifetime achievements of artists, creative professionals, and individuals who passionately support the arts, this year honored Broadway producer Daryl Roth with the Lifetime Achievement Award for Performing Arts, presented by her son, style influencer and president of Jujamcyn Theaters, Jordan Roth. Nancy and Howard Marks were given the Special Award for Leadership and Philanthropy, presented by Guild Hall’s Board Chairman Marty Cohen.

Academy president Eric Fischl recognized and congratulated the newest Academy inductees—Uri Berliner, Cynthia Daniels, Robert Downey Jr., Susan Downey, Sunny Hostin, Fern Mallis, Susan Meiselas, Carl Safina, Marcus Samuelsson, Hank Willis Thomas, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Rufus Wainwright, and Carrie Mae Weems.

The view from the 65th floor of 30 Rock may have been shrouded by fog, but the vibe in the room was cheerful and bright, especially when Broadway legend Bernadette Peters took the stage for a tour-de-force performance of “No One Is Alone” and “Children Will Listen” from Into the Woods.

“We could not have had better honorees than the visionary producer Daryl Roth and the devoted arts supporters Nancy and Howard Marks,” shared Guild Hall Executive Director, Andrea Grover. “Love and laughs were the themes of the evening, beginning with Academy President Eric Fischl’s quasi-AI-assisted ‘Arts + Farming’ speech, followed by guffaw-inciting jokes by Bernadette Peters, Howard Marks, and Jordan Roth. At the end of the night, no one wanted to go home.”

Notable attendees included honorees Daryl Roth and her husband Steven Roth, and Nancy and Howard Marks, and Academy inductees Uri Berliner, Sunny Hostin, Fern Mallis, Susan Meiselas, Carl Safina, Hank Willis Thomas, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Rufus Wainwright. Additional attendees of note included Bernadette Peters, Susan Stroman, Jordan Roth and Richie Jackson, and Philippe Petit; artists Eric Fischl, April Gornik, Ross Bleckner, Arcmanoro Niles, Kambui Olujimi, Joel Mesler, Ned Smyth, and Jeremy Dennis; dancers Jose Sebastian, Sara Mearns, and Leo Sandoval; landscape architect Edmund Hollander, architect Peter Pennoyer, Sirius XM radio personality Julie James, LoveShackFancy founder and creative director Rebecca Hessel Cohen, writer Bob Colacello, Broadway producer Brian Moreland, writer and performer Andrina Wekontash Smith, and The New York Times food & wine writer Florence Fabricant.

The dazzling space was beautifully designed by event producer Anthony Tacetta with tables covered in overflowing bouquets of white anemones. The menu, selected by The New York Times’ Florence Fabricant, included asparagus salad with crispy injera, and Academy inductee Chef Marcus Samuelsson’s berbere-cured salmon, roasted back cod with miso glaze, and a dessert trio of miniature baked Alaska, a chocolate and hazelnut quenelle, and “The Lemon.”

The Academy of the Arts is a community of over 200 of the nation’s most accomplished artists and creative professionals who lend their talent and expertise to Guild Hall. This year’s annual affair hosted 225 guests and raised over $750,000, allowing Guild Hall to continue celebrating those who champion the nearly century-old institution’s dynamic mission as an inventive, artist-driven establishment.