A Night Out For Guild Hall's Academy Of The Arts

Guild Hall held its annual Academy of the Arts Dinner on Monday, March 14, at Cipriani 42nd Street in Manhattan, honoring board chairman Marty Cohen and Michele Cohen in recognition of their long-standing commitment and generosity to Guild Hall.

The event also recognized the newest inductees to the Academy, including Barry Bergdoll, Renee Cox, Cornelius Eady, Bran Ferren, RoseLee Goldberg, Rashid Johnson, Erik Larson, Robert Longo, Julianne Moore, Questlove, Ugo Rondinone, Frank Wimberley, and Lucy Winton. The event exceeded fundraising goals, setting a new record in recent history for the Academy Dinner.

As guests settled into dinner, they were treated to a surprise performance by Beat Boxer Chris Celiz and B-Boy Anthony Vito Rodriguez of The Missing Element, presented in collaboration with Works & Process at the Guggenheim. This served as a preview to a performance the company will present as part of Guild Hall’s summer program. Executive Director Andrea Grover welcomed guests and then passed the mic to host, trustee and Academy President, Eric Fischl. During his speech, Fischl took a moment to acknowledge the crisis in Ukraine, as well as the recent passing of Academy Member and past honoree, Tony Walton.

After the main course, the program continued with Bran Ferren followed by Alice Aycock speaking about the honorees, and the reveal of a sculpture by Aycock, “Little Twister,” gifted to Marty and Michele Cohen, who took the stage to speak. The guests were then treated to another performance by musicians of the New York Philharmonic, including Rebecca Young on Viola, Yulia Ziskel on Violin, and Patrick Jee on Cello. Rebecca Young delighted the audience with a surprise encore featuring an original Guild Hall tribute sing-along song, which served as the perfect finale.

“From beat-boxing to classical music to a sing-along, the 36th Annual Academy Dinner perfectly summarized Guild Hall’s disposition as an ‘art omnivore’ that presents over 20 creative disciplines each year,” said Grover. “Our ability to achieve such versatility and virtuosity can be credited to the talent of our Academy members, and the vision of our honorees, Marty and Michele Cohen.”

In 1985, in recognition of the abundance of visual, literary, and performing artists in the Hamptons, Guild Hall’s Board of Trustees initiated an awards program and honored local luminaries Kurt Vonnegut, Willem de Kooning, and Alan Alda. The following year, the Guild Hall Academy of the Arts was founded by Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Perry, Joseph F. Cullman III, Peter Jennings, Sydney Gruson, Wilfred Sheed, Elaine Steinbeck, Henry Geldzahler and Sherrye P. Henry as an association of talented artists and arts professionals who have an affiliation with Guild Hall. The mission of the Academy of the Arts is to foster and inspire the artistic spirit of the East End and recognize the diversity and ingenuity of human expression.