As the sun set over the Southampton Arts Center on Saturday, August 19, over 450 dinner guests settled in for an evening celebrating SAC and its 2023 Champion of the Arts Award Winner, founding board co-chair Simone Levinson, honored for her long commitment to the arts scene of Southampton. With contributions still pouring in, even after the spectacular event, the event is expected to raise over one million dollars for the institution’s year-round programming.
The lavish event was attended by an eclectic mix of Southampton Arts Center supporters including Frederick Anderson, Ross Bleckner, Candace Bushnell, Lisa & Jimmy Cohen, Renee Cox, Lisa Dennison, Wendy Federman, Ivy Getty, Caroline Hirsch, Robert Longo, Sondra & David Mack, Gaia Matisse, Aoki Lee Simmons, Ming Lee Simmons, Lisa & Steve Tananbaum, Pamela & Edward Panzer, John Paulson, Hilary and Wilbur Ross, Peter Thomas Roth and Stefani Sanchi.
Guests enjoyed a visit to Change Agents: Women Collectors Shaping the Art World, on view through September 30, 2023, marking the first exhibition of its kind at the Arts Center to unite the unparalleled visions of 14 women collectors dedicated to championing artists and further impacting the cultural landscape through dynamic discourse and an ambition for change.
The evening’s entertainment was provided by Academy Award Winner Ariana DeBose and Broadway Star and Grammy Nominee Jessica Vosk. Guests enjoyed food from Acqualina and participated in a live and silent auction of works including celebrity photographer Harry Benson, whose exhibition A Moment in Time: Iconic Images by Harry Benson was recently on view at Southampton Arts Center. Sponsors included Sotheby’s, Donum Wines, Bvlgari, Peter Thomas Roth, Splash, Donum Wines, and Meredith Marks Caviar.
2023 Honoree Simone Levinson shared, “Having long held both the arts and the Southampton community dear, I am thrilled and honored to receive this year’s Champion of the Arts Award. The 10th anniversary of Southampton Arts Center marks a successful decade of serving a local and international community, which I am proud to be a part of, through dynamic programming feeding lively discourse – currently exemplified by our exhibition Change Agents: Female Collectors Shaping the Art World.”
Following SummerFest, After Dark welcomed guests from 10pm to 2am with a surprise performance by Saucy Santana and a set from DJ Professor from Set Artist Management.
