VAEA would like to give a special thanks to all our friends that joined us for VAEA’s Annual Benefit Gala Honoring Annie Leibovitz with the 2015 Paez Medal of Art.
Our immense gratitude to VAEA’s Gala Leadership: Honorary Chairman Philippe de Montebello, Gala Chairman Edgar Ramirez, Co-Chairs W.M. Hunt and Jörg Starke, Gala Committee Chairs Alice McLaughlin and Andres E. Rodriguez and Young Committee Chairs Sara Cristina Villasmil and Conrado Veliz for their invaluable support.
Thanks to our fantastic Masters of Ceremony Eglantina Zingg and Boris Izaguirre, DJ Jorge Bustillos and the Papelón con Limón band for sharing their talents and making VAEA’s celebration a night to remember.
We also want to thank VAEA’s Gala and Young Committees for their dedication, as well as our staff and volunteers.
And finally our gratitude to our sponsors and partners for your continued support: Santa Teresa Rum, ACC Brokers, The Chill Concept, Frames & Fortune, Ray Productions, GRB Communications, Sara Cristina & Kalamata Capital.
Ali Cordero Casal
Chairman
The Board of Directors of
The Venezuelan American Endowment for the Arts
Philippe de Montebello
Honorary Chairman
Edgar Ramirez
Gala Chairman
W.M. Hunt
Jorg Starke
Gala Co-Chairs
VAEA’s Annual Benefit Gala
Honoring Annie Leibovitz with the Paez Medal of Art
Wednesday, November 18th 2015
David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center
Broadway between 62nd and 63rd streets, New York City
Black Tie
The VAEA’s Gala Committee
Alice McLaughlin
Gala Committee Chairwoman
Andres E. Rodriguez
Gala Committee Chairman
Reinaldo & Carolina Herrera, VAEA’s 2014 Gala Chaira
Angel Sánchez & Christopher Coleman, VAEA’s 2013 Gala Chairman
Marcio Souza & María Brito de Sousa, VAEA’s 2012 Gala Chairs
Rafael & Piaspia Egañez, VAEA’s 2011 Gala Chairs
Victoria Benatar, Ricardo Brunstein, Nina Fuentes, James Goldschmidt, Omar Hernández, Antonio Herrera-Vaillant & Carolina Stone de Herrera, Andrés Landino, Edward Mapplethorpe, Nieves Puppio de Zingg, Gabriel Rivera-Barraza, Neal & Anita Slavin.
The VAEA’s Young Committee
Sara Cristina Villasmil
Young Committee Chairwoman
Conrado Véliz
Young Committee Chairman
Lara Alcantara, Coromoto Atencio, Jorge Bustillos, Manuel Grande Boggio, Matthew Hars, Pablo Maes, Daniel Mora-Brito, María José Morr, Adriana Osorio Lugo, Bernardo Ortiz, Manuel Quintana, Jesús Reyes, Daniel Salcedo, Mónica Sordo, Melisa Socoro and Andrea Suels.
Benefit Auction
VAEA’s Annual Benefit Gala Auction features the work of international contemporary artists to benefit VAEA’s mission of strengthening the ties of friendship between USA and Venezuela through bi-national cultural and social programs. Established in New York in 1990, VAEA gives critical support to artists and institutions, promotes artists in their curated Artists’ Registry, and offers museums visits to hundreds of children, among other programming.
Auction ends December 1st.
Lara Alcantara, Romulo Avendaño, Muu Blanco, Deborah Castillo, Malika Cosme, Diana Gomez, Matthew Hars, Joseph Imhauser, Oliver Krisch, Alejandra Loreto, Cristina Matos-Albers, Jean Nouel, Maria Octavio, Tomas Opitz, Elena Pastor, Rolando Peña, Arsenio Reyes, Luigi Rodriguez, Neil Slavin, Ani Villanueva, Efrain Vivas & Antonieta Zerré.
To visit VAEA’s Benefit Auction with Paddle 8 click here
Annie Leibovitz
VAEA’s 2015 Páez Medal of Art recipient
Annie Leibovitz’s outstanding contributions to the art of photography in her forty-year career are numerous and exceptional. Leibovitz started her artistic journey as a photographer for Rolling Stone magazine. In 1983 she joined Vanity Fair magazine, where she continues to elevate the art of portraiture. Since the early 1990s, she has also been a regular contributor to Vogue. In addition to her magazine editorial work, Leibovitz has developed an impressive body of work that has been exhibited by major museums and art institutions worldwide, including the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Leibovitz is the recipient of many honors. She has been designated a Living Legend by the Library of Congress, awarded the Centenary Medal of the Royal Photographic Society in London, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Center of Photography and the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities.
Prof. Philippe de Montebello
Honorary Chairman
Philippe de Montebello, is the Chairman of The Hispanic Society of America Museum & Library. De Montebello was born in France and immigrated to the United States of America in the 1950s, becoming a naturalized citizen of the US in 1955. He was educated in New York City at the Lycée Français, graduated from Harvard University with a degree in art history, and earned an MA from the IFA, New York University, after which he embarked on a career in Fine Arts. He became the Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 1977 and served until 2008. On his retirement, he was both the longest-serving director in the institution’s history, and the second longest-serving director of any major art museum in the world. From January 2009, de Montebello took up a post as the first Fiske Kimball Professor in the History and Culture of Museums at New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts.
Edgar Ramirez
Gala Chairman
Edgar Ramírez, a world-renowned Venezuelan actor, can next be seen starring opposite Jennifer Lawrence in Director David O’Russell’s JOY and Warner Bros’ highly anticipated remake of POINT BREAK, both releasing on Christmas Day later this year. In early 2016, Ramírez will lead Weinstein’s HANDS OF STONE starting opposite Robert De Niro and he is currently in production on Stephen Gaghan’s GOLD, starring opposite Matthew McConaughey. Ramírez has received a wide array of awards attention and critical acclaim for his starring roles in ZERO DARK THIRTY, THE LIBERATOR and CARLOS, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and Emmy Award, and won a César Award from the French Academy of Motion Pictures. In 2012, Ramírez received an Alma Award for “Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture Drama” for his role as ‘Ares’ in the Warner Bros film WRATH OF THE TITANS. In addition to acting, Ramírez is an active philanthropist and currently serves as a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF in Venezuela. He has also been active in the awareness campaign for breast cancer in Venezuela along with Amnesty International’s ‘Don’t Shoot’ campaign to help eliminate the number of injuries and deaths caused by irresponsible use of guns.
W.M. Hunt
Gala Co-Chair
W.M. Hunt is a photography collector, curator and consultant who lives and works in New York. Hunt has been collecting photography for over 35 years. He is a professor at the School of Visual Arts and has been profiled in The New York Times, Art on Paper, Modern Painters (magazine), The Art Newspaper, PBS’ EGG, the Arts Show, as well as BBC’s The Genius of Photography and elsewhere. His book “The Unseen Eye” (Aperture, Thames & Hudson, Actes Sud) focuses on Collection Dancing Bear, currently his largest collection of photographs. W.M. Hunt is on the Board of Directors of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund and The Center for Photography at Woodstock where he was the recipient of their Vision Award in 2009. He also served on the Board of Directors of AIPAD (Association of International Photography Art Dealers) and was the past Chairman of Photographers + Friends United Against AIDS.
Jorg Starke
Gala Co-Chair
Jörg Starke is a German philanthropist, curator, collector and art advocate. Mr. Starke has been the President of the Starke Foundation in Berlin since 1988. The Starke Foundation is established at The Löwenpalais, situated in the Grunewald, Berlin’s so-called “verdure heart”, a villa that represents traditional ties to the arts through its history and architecture. The mission of the Starke Foundation is to grant young artists a limited guest residence at the Löwenpalais; Promoting dialogue between artists and the public in all appropriate forms. Mr. Starke lives between Bali and Berlin.
Sponsors and Partners
Santa Teresa Rum, ACC Brokers, The Chill Concept, Frames & Fortune, Ray Productions, GRB Communications, Kalamata Capital.
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DISCLAIMER
VAEA’S Annual Benefit Gala (“Gala”) The amount of any tax-deductible donation associated with this Purchase will be provided at a later date in accordance with applicable law, and shall benefit The Venezuelan American Endowment for the Arts.
ALL SALES FINAL/NO REFUNDS, NO EXCHANGES, NO REPLACEMENTS: The Gala, prices, personalities, performances, venue, date and time are subject to change without notice. All sales are final. This ticket will not be replaced, refunded or exchanged for any reason whatsoever.
INCLEMENT WEATHER/OTHER LOSS: Gala Organizer shall have no responsibility, financial or otherwise, for event cancellation or interruption due to inclement weather or other acts beyond its control. Gala Organizer shall not refund for cancellation due to inclement weather or other acts beyond its control. Gala Organizer is not responsible for lost or stolen articles at the Event.
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As responsible members of the community, Gala Organizer recognizes the concern about drinking and driving, and its policy is to encourage responsible consumption of products at the Gala. If Holder believes that his/her driving ability may be impaired or that Holder cannot safely operate a motor vehicle, please speak with a Gala representative who will arrange for transportation back to Holder’s destination point.