Scene Last Night: Griffin, Debbie Harry, Christo, Marissa Mayer
Under a party tent at the new downtown site of the Whitney Museum of American Art last night, shovels hung from the ceiling, Debbie Harry performed, and guests included Citadel LLC’s Ken Griffin, whose wife, Anne, is a trustee.
The artist Christo dug into grilled cheese, tomato soup and meatloaf. Real shovels will dig into the ground on a vacant lot in the Meatpacking District Tuesday morning.
Yes, the Groundbreaking Gala was a little early, but understandable after decades of scrapped building plans. On Tuesday night, it will throw a less formal party.
If all goes according to plan, by 2015 the Whitney will have a Renzo Piano-designed building with 50,000 square feet of gallery space.
“It’s going to work for the art and the artists,” said Walton Street Capital LLC’s Neil G. Bluhm, president of the Whitney board. “It’s going to be like Willie Mays, it’s going to do everything.”
Bluhm was standing next to museum co-chairmen Robert Hurst and Brooke Neidich.
“We’re here, right on our site right now,” Hurst said, grinning. “We’ve been here before but now we own it!”
Neidich seemed to know everyone in the room. A few of the people she pointed out: artist Tauba Auerbach; Chris Jennings, the son of the late news anchor Peter Jennings; Darius Bikoff, the now-retired founder of Vitamin Water, who is a new trustee of the Whitney; and real-estate developer Scott Resnick, a vice president of the board. (It takes a lot of trustees to raise $720 million, the estimated cost of the project.)
Artists Connecting
Adam Weinberg, the director of the museum, wants the new building to “be alive, not just a repository,” he said. “One of the key measures of our success will be how the artist community comes around and connects with it.”
For many the location will make a difference.
“I’ll be popping in three times a month rather than every few months,” said artist Irit Batsry, who lives in the East Village.
“It’ll be a three-block walk from my house,” said Matthew Blank, chairman and chief executive officer of Showtime Networks Inc., who collects photography. Google Inc. (GOOG)’s New York headquarters are also about three blocks away, which is one of the reasons why Marissa Mayer, a Google vice president, received the museum’s American Art Award at the event (even though she lives in San Francisco).
Geranium-Challenged
Mayer said she is not an artist -- couldn’t draw a geranium if her life depended on it, in fact -- but she has created a platform that has encouraged thousands of children to make art: the Doodle 4 Google contest, for which children submit designs for the Google logo.
“Any way we can foster imagination, creativity and innovation is really a wonderful thing,” Mayer said.
This year’s first-place winner, Matteo Lopez’s space-themed design, is featured on the Google home page today. Several winning entries will be displayed at the Whitney through June 16.
Mayer’s award from the Whitney was a green-grass Ellsworth Kelly painting, which somewhat matched her green Oscar de la Renta dress.
Many Google staff doodlers were in attendance and requested their own party favor: one of the shovels. “They said they’ll send one over,” said Google designer Ryan Germick.
(Amanda Gordon is a writer and photographer for Muse, the arts and leisure section of Bloomberg News. Any opinions expressed are her own.)
To contact the writer on this story: Amanda Gordon in New York at agordon01@bloomberg.net or on Twitter at @amandagordon.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Manuela Hoelterhoff at mhoelterhoff@bloomberg.net.
Whitney Groundbreaking Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Robert Hurst and Brooke Neidich, co-chairmen of the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Neil G. Bluhm, president of the museum.
Robert Hurst and Brooke Neidich, co-chairmen of the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Neil G. Bluhm, president of the museum. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Whitney Groundbreaking Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Whitney trustees Anne Griffin and James Gordon.
Whitney trustees Anne Griffin and James Gordon. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Whitney Groundbreaking Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Chris Jennings and Tauba Auerbach.
Chris Jennings and Tauba Auerbach. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Whitney Groundbreaking Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Marissa Mayer, a Google vice president, accepting the Whitney's American Art Award, under a canopy of shovels (in honor of its groundbreaking) and next to an Ellsworth Kelly painting presented to her.
Marissa Mayer, a Google vice president, accepting the Whitney's American Art Award, under a canopy of shovels (in honor of its groundbreaking) and next to an Ellsworth Kelly painting presented to her. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Whitney Groundbreaking Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Adam Weinberg, director of the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Donna De Salvo, chief curator at the museum.
Adam Weinberg, director of the Whitney Museum of American Art, and Donna De Salvo, chief curator at the museum. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Whitney Groundbreaking Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
The construction-themed decor included "bouquets" of orange fencing material.
The construction-themed decor included "bouquets" of orange fencing material. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Whitney Groundbreaking Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Sarah Sze, artist.
Sarah Sze, artist. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Whitney Groundbreaking Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie performed "Call Me" and "One Way or Another" after dinner (meatloaf) and before most guests' dessert had arrived.
Debbie Harry and Chris Stein of Blondie performed "Call Me" and "One Way or Another" after dinner (meatloaf) and before most guests' dessert had arrived. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Whitney Groundbreaking Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Susan Hess, a chairman of the gala; musician Patty Smyth, and tennis player John McEnroe, who is opening an academy on Randall's Island.
Susan Hess, a chairman of the gala; musician Patty Smyth, and tennis player John McEnroe, who is opening an academy on Randall's Island. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Whitney Groundbreaking Gala
Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
Ryan Germick, Google's chief doodler, in front of children's entries in the Doodle 4 Google contest.
Ryan Germick, Google's chief doodler, in front of children's entries in the Doodle 4 Google contest. Photographer: Amanda Gordon/Bloomberg
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