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Tickets are sold out, but you can email bvacarelo@artstudentsleague.org to join the waitlist—or make a gift to support our 150th Anniversary campaign here.
On November 11th, 300 artists, collectors, scholars, and patrons of the arts will come together for an unforgettable night at the Rainbow Room to celebrate the Art Students League’s 150th Anniversary Gala. Together, we’re raising nearly half a million dollars to keep world-class fine art education affordable and accessible for the next 150 years.
This extraordinary celebration will honor the 200,000 artists who have studied at the League since its founding in 1875. This unforgettable evening will also feature a special tribute to Robert Rauschenberg, trailblazing League alumnus, on the occasion of his 100th birthday.
For 150 years, the League has been a revolutionary force in American art — home to icons like Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Louise Bourgeois, Romare Bearden, and Ai Weiwei. Today, under the guidance of celebrated instructors such as Larry Poons, Sharon Sprung, and James Little, our atelier-style classes continue to shape the next generation of artists.
The Gala is our only fundraising event of the year. Proceeds support the League’s cornerstone programs: tuition for all subsidized by 60%, plus over $1.2 million in annual scholarships, free arts education for 3,500 young people through Seeds of the League, and public programs that reach 70,000 visitors each year.
From interactive activations to inspiring works on view, the Gala will showcase the League’s living legacy in the hands of today’s artists. Efrosiniay Bondareva (sculpting student), Randy Richard Morales (painting student), Diego Mora (painting student), and Maggie O’Keefe (drawing student) will create art live in the Rainbow Room.
Efrosiniay Bondareva
Efrosiniay Bondareva, known as Froshi, is a dedicated sculptor and illustrator whose artistic journey began with a need to find resilience, comfort, and beauty wherever she could. On her own since the age of 16, she found solace first in sculpture, where she now seeks not simply to copy reality, or abandon it, but instead to amplify and expose the emotional and primal connections it evokes in her.
Instagram: froshibondareva
Randy Richard Morales
Originally from Los Angeles, Richard—known artistically as Creative Vice—is a multidisciplinary artist exploring the intersection of fine art, fashion, and emotional storytelling. A U.S. Navy veteran turned designer, Morales relocated from LA to New York in 2025 to deepen his artistic practice and is currently enrolled in the Certificate Program at the Art Students League of New York.
Instagram: creativevice
Website: creativevice.co
Diego Mora
Born in Venezuela, Diego and family moved to New York City when he was 11 years old, following the political and economic crisis in Venezuela. He attended the High School of Art and Design, where he was encouraged to take classes at the League by his teacher, Richard Weinstein. Diego studied with Garin Baker and Max Ginsburg throughout high school starting freshman year. He currently attends the Fashion Institute of Technology parallel to the League, but he is working on building his body of work independently.
Instagram: diegonmora
Maggie O’Keefe
Maggie O'Keefe is an artist based in New York. She is classically trained in drawing and painting and works in graphite, oil paint, colored pencil, and watercolor. She illustrated for The Atlantic, The Baffler, County Highway, The New Republic, The Boston Globe, Howler Magazine, and Kristof Farms. She received her BFA from Cornell University in 2019 and studied at the League. She teaches art at The Scarsdale Adult School.
Instagram: msokeefe
Website: maggiesokeefe.com
Broadway stars Ben Cameron, Andre Catrini, and Krysta Rodriguez will take the stage to celebrate the League's 150th Anniversary Gala through song and a special surprise to honor this historic milestone.
Ben Cameron
If you love Broadway, chances are that you've seen Ben Cameron shine! Ben started as a performer, appearing in Footloose (Original Broadway Cast), Aida, and Wicked (Original Broadway Cast). Utilizing his outgoing personality and "inner theater-geek," Ben has since become a beloved Broadway influencer and personality. He is the creator/host of Broadway Sessions, a musical theater variety show now in its 12th season. He's a frequent face on PBS, hosting specials such as Hamilton's America, Heather Headley: Life is a Stage, and the Broadway on Thirteen Marathon. BroadwayCon attendees will recognize Ben from the mainstage. Make sure to ask Ben to share his solo line from the original cast recording of Wicked!
Krysta Rodriguez
Krysta Rodriguez recently starred on Broadway in Smash. Broadway credits include Into the Woods, Spring Awakening (OBC and Deaf West Revival Company), First Date, The Addams Family, In the Heights, A Chorus Line (Revival), and Good Vibrations. Rodriguez played Megara in the world premiere production of Disney’s Hercules (Public Works) and received an Outer Critics Circle honor for her performance in Theresa Rebeck’s Seared (MCC Theater). Other memorable turns include West Side Story (Anita; Kennedy Center), A Chorus Line (Diana; Hollywood Bowl), and What We’re Up Against (Off-Broadway). On television, Rodriguez is best known for portraying the iconic entertainer Liza Minelli in Netflix's Halston. Other TV credits include Smash, Daybreak, and Trial & Error.
Andre Catrini
Andre Catrini is a musical theatre composer/lyricist, musical director and accompanist based out of the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He is a member of the BMI-Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop, an alumnus of the ASCAP Johnny Mercer Songwriter’s Workshop (current ASCAP member) and a graduate of the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati (CCM).
Andre is the recipient of the 2014 ASCAP Foundation Cole Porter Award, given “in recognition for his outstanding talent as a musical theatre composer and lyricist,” as well as a 2015 New Voices Project Merit Award. His song, “My World,” appears on the album 16 Stories, featuring the Australian Discovery Orchestra, and is available on Apple Music and Spotify. His musical The Astonishing Times of Timothy Cratchit (book by Allan Knee) had its UK premiere production at the Hope Mill Theatre in Manchester, England in the fall of 2019. Andre is currently developing a musical with actress and activist Alexandra Billings based on her life story, titled S/He & Me, which was first workshopped in NYC in June of 2024.
Co-Chairs
Erica and Jack Howard-Potter
Mazuba Kapambwe-Mizzi and Joseph Mizzi
Members
Ludmila S. Bidwell
Wil and Jack Bigio
Martin Bjäringer
Beth Berns and Larry Bressler
Joan Binstock and David Silvers
Bari Chase and Daniel Kalin
Blue Rider Group
Ron Chereskin and Howard Goldfarb
Stephen Durkee
Jia Jia Fei
Florida Keys Council of the Arts
Dorian Goldman and Marvin Israelow
Mark and Ellie Gordon
Jack L. Gordon Architects
Agnes Gund
Robin Lechter-Frank and Dr. Ronald Frank
Max Hollein
Melissa Kaish and Jonathan Dorfman
Chiwoniso Kaitano
James S. Keagy
Annabel Keelty
Julia Keelty
John Kneapler and Stephen Weitzman
Kristin Larkin LoGerfo
James Little
Mack Art Foundation
Tyler Mahowald
Crystal McCrary McGuire and Raymond J. McGuire
Wesley Moon and Tyler Banken
Paula and Larry Poons
Phong Bui
William Radin and Kristian Ivanov
Scott Rothkopf
Tara Sansone
Jenny Santi
Sciame
Jenna and Paul Segal
Tschabalala Self & Michael Mosby
Eric Shiner
Sharon Sprung
Kelly Stuart Graham
Dan Tanzilli
The Richard Pousette-Dart Foundation
UOVO
Jason Bard Yarmosky
Public Officials
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine
NYC Councilmember Gale A. Brewer
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