2025 AFA Gala & Cultural Leadership Awards

Join the American Federation of Arts at the 2025 Gala & Cultural Leadership Awards this fall at Guastavino's in New York City.

This year, we will honor three extraordinary leaders:

• Christian Levett, art collector, philanthropist, and founder of the Female Artists of the Mougins Museum, Europe’s first major museum dedicated exclusively to female artists.
• Howardena Pindell, pioneering artist, educator, and advocate whose groundbreaking work has expanded the discourse on race, gender, and equity in contemporary art.
• Ann Temkin, The Marie-Josée and Henry Kravis Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art, whose influential scholarship, exhibitions, and acquisitions have shaped global understanding of modern and contemporary art.

ABOUT THE AWARDS

The AFA Cultural Leadership Awards are given annually to artists, museum leaders, cultural institutions, or philanthropists in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the art community. The event brings together leading museum directors, collectors, artists, philanthropists, and art professionals at an elegant gala to celebrate the American Federation of Arts and honor significant individuals in the arts.

Past recipients have included: Eli and Edythe Broad, Alice Walton, Wangechi Mutu, Charles and Valerie Diker, Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz, Marina Abramović, Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Frank Gehry, Roy Neuberger, Sarah Sze, and Eugene V. Thaw.

This year’s Gala will celebrate the AFA’s Women in Art Initiative, which highlights the vital contributions of women artists, curators, and cultural leaders, while also benefiting the AFA’s nationally touring exhibitions and programs, including Abstract Expressionists: The Women and Esther is Here! Esther Mahlangu and the Ndebele Painting Tradition.

Your support enables us to continue to create meaningful connections between art and audiences. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to the AFA and our valuable mission!

Please note that Eventbrite charges a handling fee. To purchase tickets directly from the AFA, contact events@amfedarts.org or 917.583.4642. Estimated fair-market value of the dinner is $325 per person. Contributions in excess of that amount are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.