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Press Office Event

SFMOMA’S 2014 MODERN BALL TO LIGHT UP YERBA BUENA GARDENS ON APRIL 30

Bay Area's Biggest Art Bash to Be Held Outside Museum for First Time  Holy Ghost! and Passion Pit (DJ Set) to Headline Post-Modern Party; Gala Auction to Feature Artwork by Luc Tuymans

Released: November 07, 2013 · Download (501 KB PDF)

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA)’s popular Modern Ball returns on Wednesday, April 30, 2014—this year turning the museum’s immediate South of Market surroundings into one gigantic party. For the first time, SFMOMA’s biennial fund-raising gala will be held outside the museum, transforming the nearby neighborhood oasis of Yerba Buena Gardens into a party space with surprises around every corner.

With three signature experiences unfolding over the course of the evening—The Gala Dinner, The Supper Club, and The Post-Modern Party—The Modern Ball 2014 promises a night of artful celebration with sumptuous fare, cocktails, decadent lounges, art, and dancing, culminating with thrilling performances by co-headliners Holy Ghost! and Passion Pit (DJ set).

The Modern Ball 2014 is chaired by Christine Lamond, with honorary chairs Dolly and George Chammas and Helen and Charles Schwab. In keeping with SFMOMA’s On the Go exhibitions while the museum’s building is closed, The Modern Ball has been reimagined to reflect and celebrate this unique time in the museum’s history. Proceeds from the event support SFMOMA’s California-wide exhibitions and innovative education programs serving more than 60,000 students, teachers, and families each year.

“It is an honor and pleasure to work with the incredible SFMOMA community to present The Modern Ball in such a fresh, inventive way,” says Lamond. “We’ve created a spectacular evening for longtime friends and new visitors alike to celebrate this very exciting moment for the museum.”

The Modern Ball 2014 is made possible through generous underwriting by premier sponsors the Fisher Family, Mimi and Peter Haas Fund, Christine and Pierre Lamond, Helen and Charles Schwab, and Wells Fargo. Additional sponsorship is provided by Valentino, AT&T, Sotheby’s, and Webcor. Media sponsorship is provided by San Francisco magazine. The hotel partner is the W San Francisco. The spirits partner is Campari America. The champagne and wine sponsor is Moët Hennessy USA. The event’s in-kind partners are B Restaurant & Bar, City View at Metreon, Classic Party Rentals, Crystal Geyser Water Company and Crystal Geyser Spring Water by CG Roxane, Got Light, and Samovar Tea Lounge.

 

View of SFMOMA from City View at Metreon; photo: Henrik Kam

Event Overview
Event designer Stanlee Gatti will bring his signature creative flair to The Modern Ball 2014 with artful experiences throughout the outdoor gardens set against the stunning evening cityscape, including a unique tented space atop the gardens’ waterfall. Two concurrent events will kick off the night: The Gala Dinner will include a seated dinner with a premier live auction led by Sotheby’s Andrea Fiuczynski, featuring a significant artwork by Luc Tuymans, and The Supper Club will offer music by DJ King Most, flowing drinks, and gourmet culinary stations in a styl­ish lounge setting. Late-night revelers will then join Gala Dinner and Supper Club guests as The Modern Ball’s after-hours fête, The Post-Modern Party, takes off throughout the gardens. From the breathtaking City View at Metreon, Holy Ghost!, the popular synthpop duo from Brooklyn, will give a live performance with syncopated light boxes customized for the night, followed by a DJ set from  Passion Pit, an indietronica festival favorite. Post-Modern Party attendees will also enjoy specialty cocktails, delectable bites, and other exhilarating entertainment—including a silent disco presented by Silent Frisco—with dancing late into the night.

The Gala Dinner
5:45 p.m. Cocktails – Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum
7 p.m. Seated Dinner and Live Auction – The Gala Tent on Yerba Buena Gardens Terrace
9 p.m. Access to All Post-Modern Party Venues
Gala Dinner guests will experience the ultimate night out with an exquisite dinner by McCalls paired with Ruinart champagne and Newton Vineyard wines, a thrilling live auction, and irresistible surprises.

Auction highlights include:

Luc Tuymans; Dad’s Heat, 2013; Courtesy of the artist; David Zwirner, New York / London; and Zeno X Gallery, Antwerp; © Luc Tuymans; photo: Pictura Imaginis

  • Luc Tuymans, Dad’s Heat (2013), an evocative oil painting that depicts a space heater given to him by his father, showcasing the artist’s ability to transform a banal object into a mesmerizing composition. In 2010, SFMOMA co-organized the first U.S. retrospective of Tuymans’s work, a critically acclaimed exhibition that traveled internationally and concluded in his homeland, at the Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels.
     
  • Philip Guston, Untitled (1960), a drawing that captures a key moment of stylistic metamorphosis for the leading American artist. The museum has collected Guston’s work in-depth and presented comprehensive retrospectives of the artist’s work in 1979 and 2003.
     
  • Wayne Thiebaud, Steep Street (1989), an etching created in the studios of San Francisco’s renowned Crown Point Press, showcases Thiebaud’s technical talent and his unique approach to rendering the city’s signature terrain. SFMOMA hosted the artist’s first local solo exhibition in 1960, as well as a career retrospective corresponding with the museum’s fiftieth-anniversary celebration in 1985, and honored him with the Bay Area Treasure Award in 2006.
     
  • Celebrity Chef Dinner, a private dinner for sixteen prepared by four of the Bay Area’s most celebrated chefs — Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn, David Kinch of Manresa, Joshua Skenes of Saison, and Michael Tusk of Quince. Hand-selected by Lindsay and Michael Tusk, this illustrious group of restaurant chefs, holding eight Michelin stars amongst them, promise an unforgettable meal.

The Supper Club
6 p.m. Cocktails – Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Forum
7 p.m. Dinner Lounge – City View Terrace at Metreon 
9 p.m. Access to All Post-Modern Party Venues

At The Supper Club, guests will revel in a luxurious lounge with étoile champagne, Terrazas de los Andes wines, and signature drinks by Campari America, along with an array of culinary stations and DJ King Most spinning genre-spanning dance music.

The Post-Modern Party
9 p.m. Doors Open – City View at Metreon
10 p.m. Silent Disco – The Gala Tent on Yerba Buena Gardens Terrace
10:15 p.m. Live Performance by Holy Ghost! – City View at Metreon
11:30 p.m. DJ Set by Passion Pit – City View at Metreon

Post-Modern Party attendees will enjoy an evening of specialty cocktails by Bergerac mixologists, gourmet bites, and unique indoor/outdoor experiences throughout the gardens. The San Francisco–based Silent Frisco will transform the Gala Tent into an electrifying silent disco where guests will dance late into night to music broadcast via wireless headphones. New to this year’s Post-Modern Party, bottle-service-level tickets will include an exclusive tasting experience by Jason Rea, executive chef of W San Francisco’s TRACE.

Ticketing
Tickets range from $125 (Post-Modern Party individual tickets) to $50,000 (Gala Dinner tables). Tickets for The Gala Dinner can be reserved by calling 415.618.3263 or emailing modernball@sfmoma.org. Tickets for The Supper Club and Post-Modern Party are available for purchase through Eventbrite (Supper ClubPost-Modern Party).

Event Committees
Event Chair: Christine Lamond
Honorary Chairs: Dolly and George Chammas; Helen and Charles Schwab
Honorary Committee (as of April 3, 2014): Joachim and Nancy Hellman Bechtle, Gretchen and John Berggruen, Joni Binder Shwarts and Robert Shwarts, Carolyn and Preston Butcher, Jean-Pierre L. Conte, Jean and James Douglas, Concepción and Irwin Federman, Ann and Robert S. Fisher, Mrs. Donald G. Fisher, Randi and Bob Fisher, Marcia and John Goldman, Linda and Jon Gruber, Pitch and Cathie Johnson, Mary Jo and Dick Kovacevich, Marissa Mayer and Zachary Bogue, Nion McEvoy, Lisa and John Miller, Diana Nelson and John Atwater, Katie and Matt Paige, Paul and Hon. Nancy Pelosi, Lisa and John Pritzker, Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem, Roselyne Chroman Swig, Shannon and Dennis Wong, Mary Zlot
Event Committee (as of April 3, 2014): Ramy Adeeb, Alka Agrawal, Cori Bates, Gay-Lynn Blanding, Sabrina Buell, Lorna Meyer Calas, Paula Carano, Candace Cavanaugh, Patrick Chammas, Katherine Harbin Clammer, Nicole Curran, Liz Curtis, Carla Emil, Ilya Fushman, Priscilla Geeslin, Angelique Griepp, Jane Gruber, Alec Hughes, Rebecca Kaden, Marcus Keller, Pamela Kramlich, Katrina Kurnit, Alexander Kvamme, Kelsey Lamond, Gorretti Lui, Leigh Matthes, Mick McGuire, Alexis Miller, Becca Prowda, Anderson Pugash, Komal Shah, Vin Sol, Norah Sharpe Stone, Christine Suppes, Laura Smith Sweeney, Dana Tananbaum, Kim Taylor, Abigail Turin, Lindsay Tusk, Carlie Wilmans, Robin Wright 


Jill Lynch 415.357.4172 jilynch@sfmoma.org
Clara Hatcher Baruth 415.357.4177 chatcher@sfmoma.org
Press Office