Andra Day To Perform At The Gordon Parks Foundation's Annual Gala; Colman Domingo & More to Present

Ahead of its Annual Awards Dinner & Auction of Select Gordon Parks' photographs on Tuesday, May 20 at Cipriani 42nd Street, The Gordon Parks Foundation has revealed this year's performer and presenters. Andra Day, the GRAMMY Award winning, multi-talented singer, songwriter and actress, will perform at this year's gala; and presenters will include: Emmy Award winner and Golden Globe, Oscar, Olivier & Tony Award nominee Colman Domingo, conceptual artist Hank Willis Thomas, fashion designer & author Aurora James, model & actor Tyson Beckford and creative director, activist, and photographer & activist Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe.

The gala, which brings together changemakers across film, music, fashion, art, and philanthropy, will honor legendary model and activist Bethann Hardison, acclaimed contemporary artist Rashid Johnson, Chief Content Officer, Condé Nast, and Global Editorial Director, Vogue Anna Wintour,  and politician, minister and civil rights leader Ambassador Andrew Young, who was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Mayor of Atlanta and a U.S. Congressman.

The evening's special guests include the son and grandson of Rev. E.F. Ledbetter, who Gordon Parks photographed extensively in Chicago in 1953 for a story on the Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church. These photographs will be the subject of an exhibition at Howard University this year.

“We're so thrilled Andra, Coleman, Tyson, Aurora, Jeanne and Hank will be joining us for this year's gala to celebrate both Gordon's commitment to the arts and social justice and the honorees whose work advances the foundation's mission,” said Executive Director of The Gordon Parks Foundation, Peter W. Kunhardt, Jr. “The annual gala is our homecoming - a night to celebrate art, activism, and support for the next generations of artists, and it's the balm our souls need during this moment of great divide.”

The co-chairs for the 2025 Gordon Parks Foundation Awards Dinner & Auction are: Alicia Keys and Kasseem Dean, Tonya and Spike Lee, Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor, Anderson Cooper, Sarah Arison, Kathryn and Kenneth Chenault, Michi Jigarjian, Judy and Leonard Lauder, Carol Sutton Lewis and William M. Lewis, Jr., Crystal McCrary and Raymond McGuire, Gail and Jeff Yabuki, Alex Soros and Huma Abedin, and Clara Wu Tsai.

All proceeds from the evening will support year-round educational programming as well as the fellowships, prizes, and scholarships provided by The Gordon Parks Foundation to the next generation of artists, writers, and students whose work follows in Parks' footsteps. Tickets are available starting at $2,000.

Just last week, the foundation announced the Gordon Parks Foundation Legacy Fund, a collection-building fund that will focus on mid-and late-career artists whose enduring work is connected to Parks's life and legacy. In the fund's inaugural year, The Gordon Parks Foundation will recognize two celebrated artists and members of Gordon Parks's circle, Mikki Ferrill and LeRoy Henderson. Since 2017, the foundation has also awarded annual fellowships to young artists following in Gordon Parks's footsteps working in a variety of fields and mediums. This year's Gordon Parks Foundation's Art Fellowships are being awarded to interdisciplinary artist and educator Derek Fordjour, photo-based artist and feminist activist Scheherazade Tillet and The Gordon Parks Foundation's Genevieve Young Fellowship in Writing is awarded to 2022 Pulitzer Prize-winning contributing critic-at-large for the New York Times, Salamishah Tillet. These fellowships support the development of new or ongoing projects that explore the themes of representation and social justice and are in historical dialogue with Gordon Parks's work. The fellows will participate in a wide range of Foundation initiatives and programs throughout the year, culminating in a solo exhibition at The Gordon Parks Foundation Gallery in Pleasantville, NY. The Foundation will also acquire work by the art Fellows for its permanent collection, and they will be recognized at this year's gala.