The Brooklyn Museum to Honor Darren Walker at 2025 Brooklyn Artists Ball, Made Possible by Dior

After Party tickets on sale now

On Tuesday, April 29, 2025, the Brooklyn Museum will host its fourteenth annual Brooklyn Artists Ball, presented by Dior. This year, the Artists Ball honors Darren Walker—a longtime arts supporter and philanthropist, and president of the Ford Foundation—for his contributions to philanthropy, social justice, and advocacy for artists. The Brooklyn Museum is proud to recognize Walker’s beneficence and unwavering belief in the power of the arts to drive action, which has set the bar for philanthropic leadership.

“Darren Walker’s visionary leadership during his eleven-year tenure as President of the Ford Foundation has expanded compassion and opportunities for countless individuals within the arts community and far beyond,” says Anne Pasternak, Shelby White and Leon Levy Director, Brooklyn Museum. “From spearheading the Ford Foundation’s commitment to social justice to inspiring leaders across sectors, Darren has made an immeasurable impact, which we are thrilled to honor at this year’s Artists Ball.”

Jeffrey Gibson, an artist and Brooklyn Museum Trustee, is collaborating with Dior and the Museum on the creative direction of the 2025 Brooklyn Artists Ball, infusing the event with his distinct, colorful style. The design is inspired by Jeffrey Gibson: When Fire Is Applied to a Stone It Cracks. This 2020 exhibition celebrated the artist’s dynamic practice, which melds Indigenous and Western stylistic influences in a signature use of vibrant color, complex pattern, text, found objects, and sound. With Gibson’s help, the night will be filled with joy and surprise artist interventions.

The Brooklyn Artists Ball is the Museum’s largest fundraiser, generating pivotal revenue in support of programming that includes special exhibitions and reimagined collection installations as well as educational programs for visitors of all ages. The evening will begin with a cocktail reception in the Museum’s lobby at 6:30 pm, followed by an elegant seated dinner in the Beaux-Arts Court at 7:30 pm. Guests will be treated to a menu developed and catered by Great Performances. At 9 pm, Swizz Beatzwill headline the Brooklyn Artists Ball After Party, hosted by the Brooklyn Museum’s Young Leadership Council, alongside a set of to-be-announced guest performers.

This year, Dior has continued its support as the lead sponsor of the Artists Ball. The fashion house has formed a strong partnership with the Museum since the blockbuster exhibition Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams (2021–22) and the 2022 Brooklyn Artists Ball, which honored Maria Grazia Chiuri, Dior’s Creative Director of women’s haute couture, ready-to-wear, and accessories collections. Several Dior ensembles are featured in Solid Gold, a dazzling exhibition spotlighting gold showpieces from the collection and around the globe, on view as part of the Museum’s ongoing 200th anniversary.

Tickets for the 2025 Brooklyn Artists Ball start at $2,500, and tables that include tickets for 10 guests start at $25,000. Tickets to the After Party start at $150, with discounts for Museum Members. For more information, email brooklynartistsball@brooklynmuseum.org.

Co-Hosts

Maria Grazia Chiuri
Stephanie Ingrassia
Amanda Waldron

Event Chairs

Regina Aldisert

Megan Brodsky

Sylvana Durrett

Henry Elsesser

Carla Shen

Honorary Chairs

Sasha and Edward P. Bass

Sharon Fay and Maxine Schaffer

Agnes Gund

Barbara and John Vogelstein

Creative direction provided by Jeffrey Gibson

Host Committee

Marina Abramović

Charles M. Blow

Kimberly Drew

Thelma Golden

Rachel Lee Hovnanian

Rashid Johnson

Glenn Ligon

Sam Messer

Antwaun Sargent

Cindy Sherman

Laurie Simmons and Carroll Dunham

Hank Willis Thomas

Carrie Mae Weems

Fred Wilson and Whitfield Lovell

Benefit Committee

Leaders

Sasha and Edward P. Bass

DIOR

Sharon Fay and Maxine Schaffer

Agnes Gund

Stephanie and Tim Ingrassia

Jamie and Robert Soros

Barbara and John Vogelstein

Amanda and John Waldron

Supporters

Art for Change

Bank of America

Tamara and Greg Belinfanti

Dana Ben-Ari and Nikola Duravcevic

Sarah de Blasio

Nancy and Anthony Bowe

Deenie and Frank Brosens

Sarah Chen and Matt Wilson

Rona and Jeffrey Citrin

Sylvana and Adam Durrett

Jodie Factor and Jonathan Donnellan

Amanda and Glenn Fuhrman

Kathy and Steve Guttman

Jeanine and Hervey Heriveaux

Michi Jigarjian

Lynne Maguire and Will Miller

McKinsey & Company

Todd Moscowitz

Stephanie Neville and Alan Beller

Amanda and Patrick Nichols

Asahi Pompey

Leslie and David Puth

Tracey and Phillip Riese

Debbie and Jonathan Rosen

Mary Jo and Ted Shen

Denine and Jon Sherman

Heather and Sean Ward

Kelly Williams and Andrew Forsyth

Saundra Williams-Cornwell and W. Don Cornwell

Lists as of March 4, 2025

About Darren Walker

Darren Walker is president of the Ford Foundation, a $16 billion international social justice philanthropy. Under his leadership, the Ford Foundation became the first nonprofit in U.S. history to issue a $1 billion designated social bond to stabilize nonprofit organizations in the wake of COVID-19. Before joining Ford, Darren was vice president at the Rockefeller Foundation. Previously, he was COO of Harlem’s Abyssinian Development Corporation. Darren cofounded both the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance and the Presidents’ Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy. In 2022, he was awarded France’s highest cultural honor, Commander of the French Order of Arts and Letters, for leadership in the arts. In 2023, he was also appointed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the Order of the British Empire for services to U.K./U.S. relations. He serves on many boards, including the National Gallery of Art, Carnegie Hall, the High Line, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, Committee to Protect Journalists, Ralph Lauren, Bloomberg Inc., and PepsiCo. In 2024, President Joe Biden awarded Darren the National Humanities Medal, which honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s engagement with the arts and humanities.

About the Brooklyn Museum

For 200 years, the Brooklyn Museum has been recognized as a trailblazer. Through a vast array of exhibitions, public programs, and community-centered initiatives, it continues to broaden the narratives of art, uplift a multitude of voices, and center creative expression within important dialogues of the day. Housed in a landmark building in the heart of Brooklyn, the Museum is home to an astounding encyclopedic collection of more than 140,000 objects representing cultures worldwide and over 6,000 years of history—from ancient Egyptian masterpieces to significant American works, to groundbreaking installations presented in the only feminist art center of its kind. As one of the oldest and largest art museums in the country, the Brooklyn Museum remains committed to innovation, creating compelling experiences for its communities and celebrating the power of art to inspire awe, conversation, and joy.