RxART’s Annual Gala Honors Glori Cohen and Mickalene Thomas
The exclusive occasion rallied artists and patrons around RxART’s mission to commission contemporary art for pediatric hospitals
On Wednesday, February 11, the nonprofit RxART gathered artists, patrons, and cultural leaders inside The Grill at the Seagram Building in New York for its annual gala. The event supported RxART’s ongoing mission to commission leading contemporary artists to create site-specific works for pediatric hospitals across the United States, all at no cost to the institutions themselves.
Guests entered through The Grill for cocktails as a live band played and servers circulated with canapés. Nearby, an RxART pop-up shop drew steady traffic. Limited-edition pajamas by Urs Fischer, produced exclusively for the gala, shared space with Monacelli’s newly released volume RxART: The Artists and Projects Transforming Health Care Spaces. Also on offer were custom coloring books, cocktail napkins, and prints by artists including Nina Chanel Abney, Derrick Adams, Ann Craven, Julia Chiang, Sam Falls, Hilary Pecis, and Ed Ruscha.
Dinner followed at The Pool, where philanthropist Douglas Keller opened the program by acknowledging the evening’s sponsor, Marfa Stance, before welcoming RxART founder Diane Brown. Cynthia Zabel then presented Glori Cohen with the Inspiration Award, joined by a pre-recorded appearance from auctioneer Simon de Pury. Accepting the honor, Cohen credited Brown’s leadership while turning attention to the artists in the room. “Without the artists, there is no RxART,” she said. “They give us their time, their vision, and their generosity.”
George Wells next presented acclaimed artist Mickalene Thomas with the Innovation Award, recognizing her recent RxART commission at NYC Health + Hospitals/South Brooklyn. The project, a large-scale mosaic titled Freesias on My Mind, now greets visitors in the Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hospital lobby. “When I think of [the mural], I’m reminded of art’s quiet but profound capacity to shift energy, spark joy, and offer solace,” Thomas mused. “That transformative potential is why I make the art that I make: to connect, uplift, and to give.”
After enjoying the seated dinner, Sarah Stein-Sapir introduced a video featuring recently completed RxART projects by Hilary Pecis and Julia Chiang and made a brief appeal to guests for their continued support of the organization. Since being founded by Diane Brown in 2000, RxART has completed 67 projects with 96 artists in 45 hospitals across 27 cities. Proceeds from the gala will fund future commissions that bring contemporary art into pediatric healthcare settings nationwide.
The guest list reflected the breadth of RxART’s community. Attendees included Isolde Brielmaier, Katie Hollander, Will Cotton, Nicola Vassell, Jasmine Wahi, Shara Hughes, Ewa Juszkiewicz, Irene Kim, Tomokazu Matsuyama, Joel Mesler, Nicolas Stavros Niarchos, Lindsey Cash, Rose Dergen, Michele Oka Doner, Nicolas Party, Hayal Pozanti, and Cynthia Zabel, among many others. As the evening wound down, guests returned to The Grill for dessert and champagne before departing with RxART books and custom totes.
