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FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2026 | 8:00PM – MIDNIGHT
This is a 21+ event, IDs will be checked at the door.
Step right up to the Dream Ball.
This year, the Art Students League of New York invites you to Circus of Wonder, an evening where spectacle meets studio and imagination takes center ring. For one unforgettable night, our historic building transforms into a vibrant carnival of creativity filled with daring performances, curious characters, live music, and unexpected delights which pay tribute League alumnus Alexander Calder and the joyous spectacle of his Circus performances.
Wander through scenes of astonishment. Encounter artists and entertainers who blur the line between audience and performer. Around every corner, discover a new marvel. This is a celebration of bold vision, creative risk, and the spirit that has defined the League for 150 years.
Dress to dazzle. Embrace the theatrical. Channel the ringmaster, the acrobat, the illusionist. Our Best Costume Contest returns with a prize worthy of the spotlight.
Join us under the lights for a night of wonder, revelry, and art in action, all in support of the League’s mission to keep high caliber art education accessible to all.
What to Expect:
Tickets:
Entertainment
Emcee, Murray Hill
Murray Hill is a one-man entertainment machine: comedian, host, actor, writer, producer, and walking time capsule of classic showbiz charm. Television audiences know him as the lovable Fred Rococo on HBO’s award-winning Somebody Somewhere, and from his appearances on Life & Beth (HBO), Drag Me To Dinner (Hulu), Elsbeth (CBS), Welcome to Flatch (FOX), and King of Drag (Revry). NBC News selected him as one of modern history's 30 most iconic and influential drag performers. He’s been included in New York Magazine’s Fifty Most Iconic Gender Benders of All Time and named one of the Top 12 gender-bending performers in NYC by Time Out. He was recently awarded the Trailblazer Award by Queerty, and selected as one of Logo30 for being a changemaker in entertainment. His campaign for Mayor of New York in 1996 was inducted into the New York Historical Society. His memoir Showbiz! My Life as a Middle-aged Man will be out October 6, 2026, with Simon & Schuster's Gallery Books. He lives in Brooklyn in a fourth-floor walk-up.
Music By DJ Reborn
DJ Reborn is a trailblazing international DJ, sound collage artist, and arts educator.
Born in Chicago and based in New York, Reborn’s diverse career spans decades of electrifying audiences across continents. This sought-after phenom has opened shows for artists ranging from The Roots, Erykah Badu and John Legend, to Jack White. Her dynamic style has been embraced across mediums by artists like Kara Walker, Wangechi Mutu, Carrie Mae Weems, Julie Mehretu and Sanford Biggers. She has rocked the decks on BET, the NAACP Image Awards, prestigious stages and festivals including Carnegie Hall, The Sydney Opera House, Glastonbury, Camp Flog Gnaw, The Kennedy Center, and The Apollo. She is the resident DJ for the iconic Ms. Lauryn Hill’s world tour. Recently,Reborn dazzled at the Academy Awards Governor’s Ball alongside the incomparable DJ D Nice.
Reborn is an active arts educator and mentor, partnering with Urban Word NYC, Sadie Nash Leadership Project, Lower Eastside Girls Club and more. She is also the founder of DJs for Justice, a coalition of DJs using their platforms in service of racial, social and economic justice. She is currently developing an international performance piece centered around archiving the stories of women in the DJ world.
DJ Reborn’s uncanny ability to impact crowds from festivals to galas to weddings sets her apart in her field.
Balloon Artist & Party Host, Cyannabis
Born and bred Bronx balloon baddie
Instagram: @cyannabis
Game Carnie & Party Host, Lollygag
Lollygag (He/they) is a clown, who was born in the backrooms. His sole reason for existence is to gag the masses. This genderqueer clown can be found enjoying his goofy grass while wiggling within Brooklyn’s nightlife scene. Lollygag’s indescribable presence will make you question,“what exactly has this awoken within me…?”
Instagram: @lollygaglab
Gogo Dancer & Party Host, Mauve
Mauve is a Filipino-Canadian Drag King, Empath, and Glamazon. He is a show producer, costume designer, and fine artist based inBrooklyn. Mauve is also the co-producer of FAGNET, Brooklyn’s hottest DragKing show, SEX CHANGE, the gender subversive transsexual romp, and A+: The PanAsian Drag Revue. He has performed on the Bushwig stage, at the BrooklynMuseum, and at Sasha Velour’s Nightgowns.
Instagram: @mauve_over
Game Carnie & Party Host, Toe Moss
Toe Moss is an aspiring red carpet reporter who triesto spend as much time as possible interviewing celebrities. He asks thehard-hitting questions, such as “If you had to choose between crashing thetrain or running over a bunch of people tied to the tracks, what would you bewearing?” He was born on a farm, and all of his best friends are plants.
Instagram: @shelton_whimsy
Tarot Card Reader, Miss Frankie Eleanor
Miss Frankie Eleanor is a New York based reader with roots that go deep into generations of boricua women that have dance through the realms of brujería. A reading doesn’t just come from the cards but the messages from the universe for you.
Instagram: @MissFrankieEleanor
Clown Makeover Artist, Kae
Kae (they/she @kae.tv) is a Washington DC based drag clown with a decade of experience in improv, comedy, clowning and stage performance. They are most similar to a chaotic combo of an extraterrestrial jester and Jennifer Coolidge. Kae's favorite words are turnip, spelunking, and anaconda respectively. If she were trapped in a room with 4 other clowns, with no clear way out, Kae is most likely to break into a nervous and high pitched parody of Smash Mouth's platinum hit "All Star", while simultaneously searching for a rusty spoon. Kae is the self declared 2026 Flarp DJ of the greater Washington DC area, a title she holds in great esteem.
Instagram: @kaehaus
History of the Dream Ball:
Started in the 1920s the Dream Ball was a fundraiser for the League’s scholarship funds. Beloved for its eccentric, handmade costumes, at the Dream Ball, high-society met the radical artists of the Art Students League in a bacchanal inspired by an annual theme.
In 2023, for the first time in almost 70 years, we relaunched the infamous Dream Ball. Students, members, nightlife enthusiasts, and revelers flocked to this historic institution to take part in a night of celebration. Guests came dressed in dazzling hand-made costumes and spent time enjoying the scenery of four unique immersive rooms.
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