New York Live Arts Gala to Honor Wangechi Mutu and Gloria Steinem

New York Live Arts (Live Arts) and Founding Artistic Director Bill T. Jones has announced the 2025 Gala chaired by Alan D* and Barbara Marks. The gala will take place Monday, May 19th at 547 W 26th St, New York, NY 10001, with Cocktails at 6pm and Dinner & Program at 7pm.

The annual celebration features a night full of performances, honorees and Live Arts artist spotlights, a delicious vegetarian dinner by one-of-a-kind BITE Catering, and a live auction featuring exclusive art and experiences.

This year's gala, A Space to Dream, Imagine, Discover, and Create, highlights the vital need to preserve space for artists, even in times of political strife. As the stenographers of culture, artists capture our histories, challenge our present, and shape our future. The women to be honored bring life to these actions, fortifying lines among our shared experience and uplifting the necessity of imagination and big thought. New York Live Arts will present awards to: 

Wangechi Mutu Wangechi Mutu's work deals with the very idea of human representation; how we perceive and reproduce images of what we believe we are, how we view others and create images of what we think of them. In her ongoing conversations with figuration, what Mutu's work looks at our value systems in Art and beyond, that either obscure or elevate our image and reflections. 

Internationally renowned for a practice that encompasses various techniques and mediums including sculpture, painting, film, installation and collages, Wangechi Mutu's work features female hybrid creatures and vivid dystopian dreamscapes. 

Mutu has participated in several major solo exhibitions in institutions worldwide, most recently, “Wangechi Mutu: Intertwined” at both the New Museum and New Orleans Museum of Art; “Thinking Historically in the Present” at the Sharjah Biennial; “Wangechi Mutu” at Storm King Art Center; “The Façade Commission: Wangechi Mutu, The NewOnes, will free Us” at The Metropolitan Museum Art; and “Wangechi Mutu: I Am Speaking, Are You listening?” at The Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco Legion of Honor Museum.

Gloria Steinem is a writer, lecturer, political activist, and feminist organizer. She has spent decades traveling in this and other countries as an organizer and lecturer and is a frequent media spokeswoman on issues of equality. She is particularly interested in the shared origins of sex and race caste systems, gender roles and child abuse as roots of violence, non-violent conflict resolution, the cultures of indigenous peoples, and organizing across boundaries for peace and justice. In 2013, President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom, this country's highest civilian honor. She has authored many books, including My Life on the Road, which was adapted into a feature length film, The Glorias. She lives in New York City.

“The theme of this year's gala, ‘The Space to dream, imagine, discover, and create,' was developed around the time of our most recent election and its startling result. We at Live Arts are always attempting to create a free and open space for creatives and the public on every level. This mission has become more urgent in the last few months. This year's gala is an opportunity to celebrate, network and dream about a free and unencumbered future,” said Founder and Artistic Director Bill T. Jones.

The event will be hosted by author and creative producer, and Live Arts Board of Directors Treasurer, Darnell L. Moore. Special performances include two celebrated Live Feed commissioning and residency program artists Ogemdi Ude and kNoname Artist | Roderick George, and Live Arts' historic resident company Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company, with music by DJ Just Love. 

Best Direction of a Play - Live Standings

Danya Taymor - John Proctor Is the Villain - 18% Sam Pinkleton - Oh, Mary! - 17% Sam Gold - Romeo + Juliet - 11%

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