Guild Hall’s Summer Gala Honored Trustee Ken Wyse, Featured Emcee Jordan Roth, Artists Leo Villareal & Renée Cox

On Friday, August 4, at Mulford Farm in East Hampton, over 350 dinner guests settled in for an evening celebrating Guild Hall and 2023 Summer Gala honoree, Trustee Ken Wyse. Wyse was recognized for his outstanding leadership and enduring commitment to Guild Hall. Rejoicing the creative process and the people who champion it, the annual benefit raised over $1.1 Million in support of the institution’s year-round interdisciplinary programs.

The lavish event was attended by an eclectic mix of Guild Hall supporters, including Marty and Michele Cohen, Myrna Daniels, Florence Fabricant, Gina Gibney, Kim Heirston, Ed Hollander, Peter Pennoyer, Lisa Perry, Daryl Roth, emcee Jordan Roth and Richie Jackson, Cynthia Rowley, Jeffrey Seller, Patsy and Jeff Tarr, Barbara Tober, Alex Vinash, and honoree Ken Wyse, and artists Ross Bleckner, Philippe Cheng, Renée Cox, Jeremy Dennis, Ralph Gibson, Alice Hope, Bryan Hunt, Arcmanoro Niles, Toni Ross, Bastienne Schmidt, Julian Schnabel, Leo Villareal and Yvonne Force Villareal, Andrina Wekontash Smith, Robert Wilson, Lucy Winton, and Lisa Yuskavage.

“Guild Hall is artist and community-driven, and this evening celebrating art champion Ken Wyse and experiencing the artworks of Leo Villareal and Renée Cox reinforced this core tenet of the institution: Artists Lead Us,” said Executive Director Andrea Grover.

The evening began at Guild Hall with a special preview of Leo Villareal’s “Celestial Garden,” a monumental light sculpture over ten feet high and twenty-eight feet wide, composed of an array of LEDs diffused through a vinyl membrane. The work utilizes custom software to orchestrate compositions of perpetually evolving abstract forms inspired by the intricate patterns found in nature, and the mural-size work references the history of painting and mark-making. Guests were able to enjoy the widely celebrated exhibition “Renee Cox: A Proof of Being,” which is also on view. Attendees also had the opportunity to stroll through the newly renovated building and grounds, admiring the work of Peter Pennoyer Architects and Hollander Design Landscape Architects.

Guests then made their way to Mulford Farm for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres followed by dinner under an open-air tent with dramatic, oversized orbs and all shades of blue, designed by Anthony Taccetta Events, and theatrical lighting by Bentley Meeker.

The program began with a short video featuring Guild Hall’s summer programs, and then the evening’s emcee, theater producer and fashion icon, Jordan Roth, took the stage to kick off the festivities, setting a humorous and warm tone to the evening. Remarks were then made by Guild Hall Board Chairman Marty Cohen and Executive Director Andrea Grover.

Guild Hall & Bel Canto Boot Camp resident artists Siskelelwe Mngenela, Elizabeth Novella, Anne Marie Stanley, Derrek Stark, Michael Leyte-Vidal, and David Wolfe closed out the first portion of the presentation with a medley of operatic drinking songs featuring excerpts from Verdi’s La Traviata, Macbeth, and Otello, Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia, and the French setting of Hamlet by Ambroise Thomas, accompanied by BCBC’s Derrick Goff. The residents will be performing alongside acclaimed soprano Lisette Oropesa on Saturday, August 12 at St. Luke’s Hoie Hall.

After dinner, the program continued with a special video featuring honoree Ken Wyse, followed by Barbara and Rick Lane presenting a Tiffany & Co. crystal award to Wyse, including moving speeches by the presenters and the honoree. Jordan Roth returned to the podium to lead a rousing call for guests to “Take a Seat” by joining the seat-naming campaign for the John Drew Theater, set to reopen in early 2024. For $5,000 per seat, over 40 attendees raised their hands to be part of the capital campaign, all of which were matched by a gift from trustee Hilarie Morgan and her husband, Mitchell Morgan. In addition to the seat-naming campaign, guests had the opportunity to be the first to bid on Leo Villareal’s “Bloom Nebula.” Bidding closes on September 4.