Rose Will Host First Gala In Twenty Years

The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University will host its first Gala event in over twenty years on May 12, 2025, in New York City. This historic event will launch the museum's most ambitious fundraising effort to date: a $2 million Exhibition Endowment Fund dedicated to securing the future of groundbreaking contemporary art exhibitions at the Rose. This momentous occasion will unite artists, scholars, collectors, and patrons to celebrate the museum's legacy and future.

The 2025 Gala will honor Lizbeth Krupp, longtime Chair of the Rose Art Museum's Board of Advisors, and acclaimed artist Hugh Hayden. Krupp has been a steadfast leader, guiding the museum through over a decade of transformation and ensuring its role as a vital center for contemporary art. Hayden is one of the leading artists of his generation, with the Rose presenting his first major survey in New England, Hugh Hayden: Home Work (September 18, 2024 – June 1, 2025). Sara Friedlander, a Rose Board of Advisors member and Deputy Chairman of Christie's, and Abigail Ross Goodman, Co-Founder of Goodman Taft, will co-chair the event. The Presenting Sponsor is The Milikowsky Family.

Since its founding in 1961, the Rose Art Museum has been a leader in contemporary art through groundbreaking exhibitions that challenge and inspire. Landmark shows such as Vision & Television (1970), the first U.S. museum exhibition on video art, and Pretty Raw: After and Around Helen Frankenthaler (2015) have shaped scholarly discourse in the field, while Rose Art Museum's commission of Mark Bradford: Tomorrow is Another Day (in partnership with the Baltimore Museum of Art) for the U.S. Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale amplified a critical voice on a global stage. Net proceeds from the Gala will support the newly established Exhibition Endowment Fund, ensuring that the Rose remains a leader in contemporary art, supporting artists and ideas that shape the future.

“We are delighted to reintroduce the Rose Art Museum Gala, an event that will celebrate our extraordinary honorees while securing the museum's ability to present bold and thought-provoking exhibitions well into the future,” said Gannit Ankori, Director and Chief Curator of the Rose Art Museum. “This endowment will ensure curatorial freedom and expanded access to contemporary art for generations to come.”