The New Museum Gala Honored Lisa Phillips and the Future of Art

Reported by Vogue.

Monday's New Museum gala was less a formal affair and more a love letter—one written in sequins, florals, and $2.7 million in fresh donations. Held at Cipriani South Street, the lower Manhattan institution's annual fundraiser celebrated the departure of Lisa Phillips, who's stepping down after 27 years as the Toby Devan Lewis director, while simultaneously feting the museum's expanded footprint and its newly opened second building. No dress code was mandated, yet guests arrived dressed for the occasion: think printed silk, hand-embroidered pieces, and statement florals that matched the pink and orange blooms enveloping the venue.

The vibe was pure joy. According to Vogue, Chloë Sevigny—honorary committee chair and dressed head-to-toe in Chloé—put it plainly: The New Museum's downtown location and curatorial rigor make it accessible in a way uptown institutions aren't. Between pink bellinis and miniature club sandwiches, attendees bid on works by Cindy Sherman and Rashid Johnson while barely touching their assigned seats, too busy photographing Phillips, whose tenure fundamentally reshaped how the museum operates. She'd helped launch NEW INC, the incubator program, co-curated six Whitney Biennials, and built a reputation for championing artists who push boundaries.

A Parting Philosophy

Phillips took the stage in a rosy Dries Van Noten jacket to address the crowd, her remarks grounded in the philosophy that has guided her decades there: ethical values trump prestige; risk-taking is non-negotiable; failure is part of the blueprint. "Values are more important than power," she told Vogue. "That's what art is all about—taking a path that has not yet been blazed, and blaze the trail." She thanked colleagues, predecessors, family, and the diverse roster of artists and benefactors who'd made the institution what it is, from conceptual risk-takers featured in the new New Humans: Memories of the Future exhibition to the donors making it all possible.

Debbie Harry closed the evening in a resplendent green suit and gold sailor cap (previously worn at Burning Man), performing tracks alongside the evening's other speakers—John Waters, Maya Lin, and Adam Weinberg among them—while DJ Stretch Armstrong spun the room into an exuberant finish. Meringue cake and tiramisu followed. It was a fitting send-off: colorful, unapologetic, and entirely unwilling to play it safe.

The New Museum's future isn't one of hushed reverence—it's one of floral prints, risk, and the belief that art changes everything.

Read the original at Vogue.