The Capital Campaign for the Whitney of the Future got off to a rousing start Thursday night on the 18th floor of the Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking District! Several years of building design, fundraising and rallying the Whitney board to give the green light to a new building on the Highline had brought us to this momentous occasion and we were ready to celebrate!
But things did not look promising a half an hour before guests began to arrive. Flashes of lightning were gorgeous but ominous. At 5:30pm, from the floor to ceiling windows of the high-gloss lounge formerly known as the "Boom Boom Room", we watched an enormous black cloud threaten to put a literal damper on a milestone event that had been months in the planning. Rolling in from the direction of Hoboken, it eventually burst, obliterating the view of lower New York that minutes before had sat so majestically before us. The outline of the new Whitney site, beautifully lit with neon tubing to make the footprint clearly visible from this elegant aerie, could hardly be seen through the pounding rain. It was a deluge, a tornado-like storm that is rarely seen in these parts. Panic set in. Would anybody show up? Would hundreds of bottles of Moet go unpopped?
Never underestimate the determination of intrepid New Yorkers to be part of a major art world event! After all, what were taxis, limousines and Escalades made for but to deliver celebrants to their destination regardless of the weather? Almost simultaneously, as the guests started tricklling in, the sky began to clear, timing that seemed to say "Only kidding folks. Have a great party." And a great party is what they had.
There were speeches by Kate Levin, New York City's cultural commissioner, and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, as well as by the Whitney's Director, Adam Weinberg, Board Co-Chairman Brooke Garber Neidich, and Board President Neil Bluhm. Artist Barbara Kruger, whose installation on part of the new Whitney site was visible during the reception, also addressed the audience, embodying the important role that the Whitney plays as the "Artists Museum".
In the "pool room" across the floor (a room that usually, unsurprisingly, contains a pool, covered over for the evening) a performance of Christian Marclay's "Pret-a-Porter" took place. A rack of clothes with musical notations on them were being put on and taken off by a cast of performers accompanied by musicians improvising on the notes on the clothing. Daring, disonant, wholly contemporary. A hint of what's to come at the new Whitney.
The rooftop of the Standard, replete with full bar, waterbeds, hottubs, conversation nooks and high-powered binoculors, as well as a vending machine offering binkinis and sunglasses, was open; but the rain-soaked astroturf kept all but the most adventurous guests - and those with frizz proof hair - on the floor below. Artists, collectors, curators, art world luminaries and government officials sipped champagne, nibbled on crab cakes, truffled grilled cheese mini-sandwiches, and vegetable spring rolls, lingered over the model of the new Whitney's Renzo Piano-designed building and watched a fly-through on plasma screens scattered throughout the floor, made small talk and big talk, and generally reveled in being part of this incredible moment.
Backstage, we had rented ipads for the first time to simplify check-in. A Whitney colleague, furnished with a head-set to facilitate communication with the front door, said she felt like she should be taking orders at Burger King! The event ended at 9. The screens, podium and performance area needed to be broken down and the lounge converted and re-set to open again at 11. With only one small freight elevator, the task was a bit daunting. But we thrive on challenges (NOT), or rather, they are always there, so we grin and bear it and plow ahead.
Our first major event of the season was a grand success, despite the storm. One down, many, many more to go.
