At the New Museum Spring Gala, the Art World Turned Out for Lisa Phillips

May 6, 2026 / Rolling Stone British /

John Waters and Jeff Koons Yvonne Tnt/BFA.com

After nearly three decades at the helm of the New Museum, former director Lisa Phillips deserved a sendoff worthy of the institution, and in late April, at Cipriani South Street, she got one. At the New Museum’s Spring Gala, following a cocktail hour featuring sets by DJ Stretch Armstrong, former Whitney director Adam Weinberg and artist Maya Lin spoke to Phillips’ singular contributions to the art world, and then the legendary John Waters (yes, that John Waters) led the packed room in a toast. After remarks by artistic director Massimiliano Gioni, auctioneer Phyllis Kao led a lively paddle round—lots included work by Jack Pierson and Billy Sullivan and editions by Rashid Johnson and Cindy Sherman—that helped raise a substantial sum that will go toward supporting the museum’s mission.

The guest list read like the syllabus in a master class in contemporary art. Legends Barbara Kruger, Marilyn Minter, Judy Chicago and Joan Jonas shared the room with artists Dana Schutz, John Currin, Mickalene Thomas, Derrick Adams, Hank Willis Thomas, Anne Imhof and Derek Fordjour, among many others. Museum and gallery world heavyweights also—unsurprisingly—turned out in force, from Brooklyn Museum director Anne Pasternak and former Hammer Museum director Ann Philbin to Studio Museum in Harlem director Thelma Golden, curator Cecilia Alemani, gallerists Jeffrey Deitch and Nicola Vassell. Honorary Committee Chair Chloë Sevigny (in a flowered Chloé sheath that matched the blooming tablescapes) presided over a crowd that also included actors John Leguizamo and Matt Dillon, writer and critic Hilton Als, artist and Pioneer Works founder Dustin Yellin, filmmaker Catherine Gund and sundry arts patrons and cultural philanthropists. Gala chairs Charlotte Feng Ford, Shelley Fox Aarons, Mitzi Eisenberg, Patricia Blanchet, Stephanie Horton, Richard Mumby and Jamie Singer Soros kept the evening running with practiced ease.

The night closed with an energetic performance by OG punk rock goddess Deborah Harry, which felt particularly fitting because the New Museum under Lisa Phillips was never content with the merely good when the genuinely extraordinary was available.