Send Nudes: The New York Academy of Art Holds Its Annual Drawing Party

Send Nudes: The New York Academy of Art Hosts Its Annual Drawing Party

“Drink a bit of tequila,” quipped David Kratz, president of the New York Academy of Art, to the crowd gathered at the Di Donna Galleries last night. “It will help with the nerves.” He was referring to any sort of trepidation guests might have been experiencing stepping up to an easel to draw the models, nude, of course, both male and female.

Though technically an exercise in figure drawing, the night was a fundraising event for the New York Academy of Art—a graduate school and gallery founded in part by Andy Warhol in 1982, dedicated to intensive training in the fine arts. (The Academy is currently showing “Andy Warhol: By Hand,” a major exhibition of more than 120 drawings by the king of Pop Art.) “We love having events that provide a memorable experience, something that goes beyond the standard cocktail party,” Kratz explained. Looking around the room to spot certain social butterflies and BFA-regulars like Lauren Santo Domingo, Zani Gugelmann, and Colby Mugrabi holding a charcoal pencil in one hand and a Champagne flute in the other did indeed feel novel.

“It’s always so fun to see who gravitates to male or female models,” said Christina Di Donna, founder of the hosting Upper East Side gallery space. “Most men gravitate to the women because they are more comfortable with the female nude, but sometimes they surprise me!” This is not the first time Di Donna has cohosted the night. Her gallery exhibits two shows year round, the next focused on women Surrealist painters in Mexico. So in the meantime, why not invite New York’s finest to celebrate the nude figure in the name of the arts?

Elsewhere in the crowd were Valerie Boster and Michael Macaulay, Jane Keltner de Valle, Zoya Loeb, Karla Martinez de Salas, Taryn Toomey, and Sylvana Ward Durrett. Everyone was able to take home their sketches, but a few left with a little something extra. Each year, awards are doled out at the close of the night, including “Artist With the Most Potential,” “Most Artistic Couple,” and “Most Unforgettable Drawing.” For many, the tequila had proven to be a great help.