The Rose Art Museum held its first-ever New York benefit gala, marking its return to the fundraising circuit after two decades. Co-chaired by advisor Abigail Ross Goodman and Christie’s Sara Friedlander, the event honored sculptor Hugh Hayden and philanthropist Lizbeth Krupp, the longtime chair of the museum’s board of advisors. The evening raised $900,000 toward a new $2 million Exhibition Endowment Fund, with Krupp making the first gift. Guests included artists Salman Toor, Leilah Babirye, Ali Banisadr, and Ilana Savdie, as well as gallerist Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn and Public Art Fund’s Nicholas Baume.
This event matters because it signals the Rose Art Museum’s strategic expansion beyond its Brandeis University campus, reinforcing its role as a forward-thinking institution. The new Exhibition Endowment Fund will support curatorial experimentation and emerging artists, building on the museum’s legacy of prescient programming—such as its landmark 1970 video art exhibition “Vision & Television.” The successful gala demonstrates sustained philanthropic confidence in the museum’s mission and its ability to shape contemporary art discourse.