PHOTOS: Inside Public Art Fund’s 2026 Spring Benefit

Rachel Park in artist Juan Veloz’s installation. Deonté Lee/BFA.com

In a busy and buttoned-up spring gala calendar, Public Art Fund’s annual benefit has always offered the art world a chance to cut loose. Earlier this month, the organization’s largest fundraiser of the year returned to the Metropolitan Pavilion with its trademark dynamism supplied this year by three artists whose work is deeply woven into Public Art Fund’s 2026 program. Genesis Belanger, drawing from her forthcoming City Hall Park exhibition, designed the evening’s vibe, extending her signature visual and conceptual language into every corner of the space. Photographer Juan Veloz, whose work anchored Public Art Fund’s first exhibition of the year, “On the Flip Side,” presented an immersive portrait experience that invited guests inside a nostalgic scene inspired by his grandmother’s living room, a warm yet radical symbol of comfort, protection and generational continuity. And Kambui Olujimi, one of 19 artists debuting permanent commissions at JFK Terminal 6 this year, brought the spirit of travel to the party with an activity that saw partygoers making custom luggage tags.

After a seated dinner by Canard, the silent auction kept patrons paddling and collectors competitive, with works by Camille Henrot, Eddie Martinez, Karyn Olivier, Gabriel Orozco, Amalia Pica, Hayal Pozanti, Paul Anthony Smith, Hank Willis Thomas and Carmen Winant on offer—every dollar slated to support the exhibitions and partnerships that animate New York’s public spaces. Then, as always, there was the afterparty: DJs Matthew Mazur and Dances on the decks, Diageo cocktails in hand and Emily Sigall‘s custom cookies making the rounds.

This year’s crowd included artists Charlie Ahearn, Candida Alvarez, Felipe Baeza, Leilah Babirye, Camila Falquez, Moko Fukuyama, Shara Hughes, Janelle Iglesias, Jane Dickson, Eddie Martinez, Karyn Olivier, Hayal Pozanti, Paul Anthony Smith and Hank Willis Thomas, alongside art and culture luminaries Suhaly Bautista Carolina of the American LGBTQ+ Museum, Performa board president Katherine Bishop, Creative Time executive director Jean Cooney and Natasha Logan of the Studio Museum of Harlem. Also spotted were Anna Blum of Karma, Corinna Durland of Kurimanzutto, Anna Fisher of David Kordansky, Sundia Nwadiozor of White Cube and Mary-Grace Reeder and Beth Stub of Hauser & Wirth.

Rounding out the evening’s roster were art collector Carla Shen, actor Deborra-Lee Furness (a philanthropic force in her own right), author Tom Dyja, photographer Sophie Elgort and philanthropists Nancy and Ziggy Alderman, Desiree Almodovar, Edward Berman, Hannah Rose McNeely, Julie Rudd and prominent arts patron Jennifer Soros. And of course, one simply cannot in this digital age forget the sundry social media tastemakers in attendance, who this year included Ariel Adkins, Tatyiana Gordon, Kira Lokhmatova, Nimay Ndolo and the delightful Rosie Peck.