Paying Respect to the Temple of Dendur at the Young Arts Gala
All good guests know that spilling your drink at a party is an absolute faux pas. That rang even more true on Thursday night at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where Young Arts alumna Zuzanna Szadkowski comically urged guests, “Please don’t spill your red wine on the Temple of Dendur.”
Szadkowski was emceeing the National Young Arts Foundation’s second annual New York Gala, sponsored by Swarovski and Max Mara. The evening’s honorary co-chairs included Debbie Allen, Agnes Gund and Sir Salman Rushdie. Cocktails were served in the lobby of the museum, where a quartet of dancers performed to live music. “Young Arts is always a little different,” Szadkowski said while watching the performance.
“The Met is so symbolic of the many incredibly storied and long history of artists and what they contribute to this world and our society,” said Carolina García Jayaram, chief executive officer of Young Arts. “Being able to celebrate artists in this space is especially poignant and magical for us.”
Maria Giulia Prezioso Maramotti of Max Mara wore a gold sequin frock made just for the occasion. “I had it custom-made to honor the fact that Swarovski’s a co-sponsor,” she said. “I wanted to have a little sparkle.” She added that one of the dancers performing was the recipient of last year’s Max Mara Young Visionary Award. “He was accepted at Juilliard,” she bragged.
Gillian Hearst Simonds, a gala co-chair, shared her excitement that Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo was among the attendees. “My mom used to play, which is really interesting, a mix of Dolly Parton and Plácido Domingo when I was a kid,” she said. “That’s what I used to fall asleep to as a baby.”
After cocktails, guests were led inside the Temple of Dendur, passing Ancient Egyptian artifacts along the way. Grace Weber, who is featured on Chance the Rapper’s Grammy award-winning album “Color Book,” performed while dinner — organic charred lemon poussin — was served.
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