Bass Museum Golden Anniversary Gala
The Bass Museum of Art received a major gift in honor of its 50th Anniversary. At the museum’s golden anniversary gala, George Lindemann, President, Bass Museum of Art Board of Trustees, announced that Diane and Alan Lieberman, owners of the South Beach Hotel Group, longtime art collectors and active community arts patrons, have donated $1 million to the museum. The gift will support the museum’s exhibitions of contemporary art and education programs, Lindemann said.
The announcement of the Lieberman’s gift was the highlight of a fabulous celebration. Board Members and Gala Co-Chairs Criselda Breene and Soledad Picón arranged special creative experiences for guests throughout the evening. During the cocktail hour a musician played a gold-leafed Steinway piano that had been part of the Bass family’s original collection. Each guest received a limited edition piece, a Limestone Bearing Gold Veins Brooch created by artist Cristina Lei Rodriguez especially for the 50th anniversary celebration.
At dinner, Executive Director and Chief Curator Silvia Karman Cubiñá thanked patrons for their support with a presentation of James Lee Byars’ iconic performance art work The Perfect Kiss, 1975. Byars, one of the artists featured in the current Bass Museum of Art exhibition GOLD, and the subject of a recent retrospective at MoMA PS1, described this work as “simultaneously a prayer, a poem and a play…a mystical expression of my appreciation of the world.”
After dinner, artist Nektar de Stagni led a spirited participatory performance, “Designer Dance Party,” which packed the dance floor. Museum galleries were elegantly transformed by Le Basque Catering and Production and the 285 guests embraced the spirit of the evening by adding touches of gold to their formal attire. When the party finally wrapped up in the wee hours of the morning, guests were sent home with a bottle of Artisan Acqua cologne, courtesy of John Varvatos.
Among the civic and cultural leaders who attended the event were City of Miami Beach Commissioners Joy Malakoff, Michael Grieco, Micky Steinberg and Deede Weithorn, Stefanie Reed of Art Basel Miami Beach and husband Evan, Cricket Taplin, Susan and Dennis Richard, Ray Breslin of Collins Park Neighborhood Association, Ximena Caminos and Alan Faena, Danielle Klein of Saks Fifth Avenue, Suzanne and Thomas Murphy of Coastal Construction, Alan Randolph of C1 Bank, Lida Rodriguez-Taseff of Duane Morris LLP, Ranjana and Naeem Khan, Bass Museum of Art Director Emeritus Diane Camber, Executive Director Design Miami Rodman Primack, Cathy Leff, Iran Issa Khan, Ines del Riverio and Maria del Valle of the South Florida Art Center.
