Inside the 2026 Whitney Gala Honoring Julie Mehretu, Fern Kaye Tessler, and Adam Weinberg
The annual spring benefit raised $6.3 million in support of the museum
On Tuesday, May 19, celebrated artists and creatives mingled with guests at the 2026 Whitney Gala, which this year honored artist Julie Mehretu, Whitney Board Chair Fern Kaye Tessler, and Director Emeritus Adam D. Weinberg. In an evening that kicked off with cocktails on the eighth floor of the Whitney Museum before a seated dinner on the ground floor, the atmosphere was festive and generous, with $6.3 million raised in support of the institution’s various missions.
Guests sipped on cocktails courtesy of LALO Tequila and Amante 1530 and dined on a special menu of sweet and spicy bacon with a variety of grissini, The Nines potato with caviar, and filet of beef with morel mushroom and more before Gala Co-Chair and Board President Anne-Cecile Engell Speyer gave the evening’s opening remarks. As dinner was served, museum trustees Joanne Leonhardt Cassullo and Beth Rudin introduced evening honoree Fern Kay Tessler before director Scott Rothkopf paid tribute to artist Julie Mehretu. The artist was honored for contributions to Whitney’s Free 25 and Under admission initiative and for her work on the museum board.
A special video tribute honored Director Emeritus Adam Weinberg before two-time Grammy Award winner Shaggy gave a live performance before an energized crowd, which included Neil Patrick Harris, Stephanie March, Jenny Mollen, Teresita Fernandez, Derek Fordjour, Rashid Johnson, Bobbi Brown, and many others.
See below for more highlights from the evening:
