Baryshnikov Arts Center Hosts Annual Fall Fête 10/2

Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC) will host its annual benefit to support the Center's programs on Monday, October 2, 2017, in BAC's Jerome Robbins Theater and Howard Gilman Performance Space. The festive, intimate evening will raise funds for BAC through ticket purchases and a silent auction of visual art works. Proceeds will support BAC's artist-centered programs and help to maintain affordable ticket prices.

"The Fall Fête is BAC's biggest and most important fundraiser," said Board Chairman Diana DiMenna. "It is an extraordinary way for us to showcase our vital and varied artistic mission, to welcome people into our spaces, and to host friends, old and new, with warmth and hospitality. Add to that all of the incredible art that will be hanging all around us at dinner-I can't wait!"

The Fall Fête program will feature a performance of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Julia Wolfe's Retrieve (N.Y. Premiere). This new work for cello and double bass was commissioned through BAC's Cage Cunningham Fellowship, established in 2015 to support artists who embody John Cage and Merce Cunningham's commitment to artistic innovation. The inaugural Fellow, celebrated Russian pianist Alexei Lubimov, generously applied his entire $50,000 award to commission five composers he identified at the forefront of music innovation-including Wolfe. Cellist Joshua Roman and bassist Lizzie Burns will perform Retrieve at the Fête and again during public BAC Salon concerts on October 5 and 6 in the John Cage and Merce Cunningham Studio.

The program also features The New York debut of Israel's Roy Assaf Dance performing the company's award-winning The Hill (N.Y. Premiere), a highly physical and evocative work for three male dancers inspired by experiences of war veterans. The Fall Fête program precedes public performances of The Hill, part of a double bill by Roy Assaf Dance on October 12 and 13 in the Jerome Robbins Theater.

The Fall Fête evening includes a silent art auction powered by Paddle8 and curated by Auction Co-Chairs Natasha Schlesinger and Shaune Arp as a response to the idea of materiality and its current prominent and intrinsic relationship to art.

The 21 auction lots include works by Alexandre Arrechea, Annabel Daou, Yana Dimitrova, Alberto Di Fabio, Andre Hemer, Camomile Hixon, Nir Hod, Misha Kahn, Katja Loher, Nancy Lorenz, Tom McFarland, Todd Murphy, Natasha Ozhiganova, Antonio Pio Saracino, Isabel Turban, Nari Ward, and Andy Warhol. In the spirit of BAC's mission to support artists, the organization will return 20% of the proceeds of each sale to the donating artist.

Two unique auction lots include Andy Warhol's Silver Clouds, a framed Mylar balloon from his set design for Merce Cunningham's Rainforest (1968), and cigarette cases formerly owned by Warhol and donated to BAC by Isabella Rossellini. Another special auction lot is the opportunity for a private guided tour of the Starn brothers' studio in Beacon, New York, led by Mike and Doug Starn.

The auction can be viewed online at Paddle8.com. Bidding is open as of Monday, September 18 at 1PM EST, and will close October 2 at 10:30PM EST. Advance registration is available on Paddle8.com or by downloading the Paddle8 app from the App store.

The 2017 Fête Chairs are Diana and Joseph DiMenna. The Auction Co-Chairs are Natasha Schlesinger and Shaune Arp. The Fall Fête Committee includes Laurie Beckelman, Reginald and Aliya Browne, Marianne Lockwood and David Bury, Alexei Lubimov, Ambassador William and Wendy Luers, Robert and Carol Morris, Ohad Naharin, Sarah Jessica Parker, Isabella Rossellini, Dawn Sequeira, Alan and Sandy Siegel, and Barry and Hilary Weinstein. rag & bone is a Primary Sponsor.

The Fête is hosted by BAC's Board of Directors, which includes Diana DiMenna, Chairman; R. Jarrett Lilien, Treasurer; Mikhail Baryshnikov, Chairman Emeritus; Frank Cordasco; Richard DeScherer; James H. Duffy; Steven C. Dupré, WilLiam James Earle, Sandra Foschi, Slavka B. Glaser, Steven Pesner, and Natasha Schlesinger.

The 7PM performance is preceded by a reception at 6PM in the Jerome Robbins Theater Lounge. Dinner, catered by Canard, Inc., is at 8PM in the Howard Gilman Performance Space. Generous Fall Fête sponsors include Slovenia Vodka and Sebastian Brecht - Obsessive Chocolate Disorder. Floral arrangements are made possible by a generous donation from Ekaterina Shchelkanova and Open World Dance Foundation.

Program Information

Baryshnikov Arts Center's Fall Fête

Monday, October 2, 2017

450 W. 37th Street, NYC, 10018

6PM - Reception

7PM - Performance: Julia Wolfe's Retrieve and Roy Assaf Dance's The Hill in the Jerome Robbins Theater

8PM - Dinner and Silent Art Auction in the Howard Gilman Performance Space

Ticket Information: Single tickets from $1,500 are available for purchase at bacnyc.org/support.