The Museum of Modern Art's annual Party in the Garden , held on a recent evening in the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden and at The Modern, honored artists Betye Saar and Martin Puryear along with philanthropist Jo Carole Lauder. The event, according to the source report, supports MoMA's general operating fund, including learning and engagement programs, and drew a constellation of guests that included Christophe Cherix, Sarah Arison, and Michael Bloomberg.

Abby, Lillie, and Mary: The founding DNA that still pulses

The source notes that MoMA was founded by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, Lillie P. Bliss, and Mary Quinn Sullivan—three women who, as the source puts it, brought “feminine audacity and a desire to challenge cultural conservatism.” The Party in the Garden exists not merely as a fundraiser but as an annual ritual that taps directly into that founding spirit. every ticket sold and every toast raised echoes the original act of three private citizens deciding that New York needed a museum for modern art, against the grain of the establishment.

In a cultural landscape where institutional memory can fade, the event's explicit homage to its female founders is a deliberate counter-narrative to the male-dominated art-history canon. It is a reminder that the very template of the modern museum was, in significant part, a woman's project.

Why Betye Saar and Jo Carole Lauder anchored the evening

Among the honorees , Betye Saar stands out as a figure whose seven-decade career has consistently interrogated race, gender, and spirituality through assemblage. The source reports that both Saar and sculptor Martin Puryear received honors, along with philanthropist Jo Carole Lauder. Lauder's centrality underscores the ongoing symbiosis between deep-pocketed patrons and institutional survival—a theme MoMA navigates with particular visibility.

The choice of Saar, an artist whose work often challenges the very institutions that now celebrate her, also signals a willingness by MoMA to embrace a more complicated, critical legacy. It is a gesture that adds intellectual weight to an evening of glamour.

The $500 million question: What does a party like this actually buy?

While the source specifies that the event supports MoMA's general operating fund—including learning and engagement programs—it does not disclose the exact amount raised.. Other major galas at institutions like the Met or the Guggenheim have historically pulled in between $5 million and $15 million per night. moMA's own events likely operate in a similar range, but the absence of a public figure leaves room for speculation.

What is clear is that operating support is the least glamorous but most essential category of museum funding, covering everything from lighting bills to conservators' salaries to free public programs.. The source notes the evening made New York feel “like New York at full tilt,” but the real impact may be invisible to the guests: a line item that keeps the doors open and the galleries lit.

Who else was missing from the guest list?

The source identifies several prominent attendees—Christophe Cherix, Sarah Arison, Michael Bloomberg—but does not mention whether any protestors or critics of MoMA's labor practices, repatriation policies, or board compositions were present. In recent years, major museums have faced increasing scrutiny over working conditions for guards and educators, as well as demands for transparency around the provenance of artworks.

The absence of any reference to such tensions in the source reporting leaves an open question: Was the party a fully harmonious celebration, or were there undercurrents that the camera simply did not capture? MoMA has not commented on whether any invitations were declined on principle.

An echo of the 1929 founding moment in 2025

According to the source, the event was described as making New York “feel like New York at full tilt”—dense with money, intellect, beauty, and command. That description could easily have applied to the 1929 founding luncheon hosted by the three original founders. The continuity is striking. In an age when many cultural institutions are struggling to retain relevance and audience attention, MoMA's ability to convene such a crowd is itself a fact worth noting.

The source says the after-party moved the evening into “a more electric register,” a testament to the enduring spirit of the founding women. But the question remains: Can that spirit translate beyond the garden walls into broader, more equitable access to art? The museum's ongoing commitment to learning and engagement programs—funded by nights like this—is one answer, but only a partial one.