MacDowell National Benefit

October 16, 2023

A woman on stage with a screen reading "Fairfax Dorn" behind her, in front of a seated crowd.

Fairfax Dorn accepts the 4th Annual Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

More than 350 Fellows, board members, and guests joined us at the Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City for our annual MacDowell National Benefit. Featuring performances (see videos below) and work by MacDowell Fellows, the festive evening also included the presentation of the fourth annual Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award to Fairfax Dorn, co-founder and artistic director of Ballroom Marfa. Special guest and conceptual artist Adam Pendleton presented Dorn with the award and spoke about her life-long commitment to supporting and centering artists’ needs. During an evening that celebrated Dorn for her significant support of artists, guests raised more than $750,000 in funds to provide critical operating support for the 300 artists that come to MacDowell each year from all corners of the globe.   

Hosted by Tony Award-nominated actor, writer, and producer Sharon Washington, the benefit also included performances by Fellows of original works, including a kanun performance by Firas Zreik (23), an excerpt from Daniel and Patrick Lazour’s (18) musical We Live in Cairo, and a duet from James Brandon Lewis (22) and Kirk Knuffke. MacDowell Executive Director Chiwoniso Kaitano and Benefit Committee Co-chair and board member Katie Firth both spoke about the unique and powerful effect MacDowell has had on our culture, and the essential space MacDowell provides for artists to come to make work and build community. The celebration included a cocktail hour, dinner, and a paddle raise as well as closing remarks by board member, Fellow, and author Elliott Holt (14, 17).

This year’s Benefit also featured artwork by MacDowell Fellow Torkwase Dyson (16) and postcard prints of Erin Shirreff’s (09) Surface Capital. As guests exited at the end of the evening, they browsed several bookcase walls filled with books by MacDowell Fellows, which they were encouraged to take home and enjoy.

For more information about the Benefit or to become a sponsor of next year's event, please e-mail events@macdowell.org

About our Honoree

Fairfax Dorn is the co-founder and artistic director of Ballroom Marfa, a non-profit contemporary art museum and residency space dedicated to boundary-pushing and site-inspired work spanning visual art, film, music, and performance. In partnership with Ballroom Marfa’s co-founder Virginia Lebermann and Executive Director Daisy Nam, she oversees the creative vision of the organization. Dorn helped conceptualize the organization’s residency program, Ballroom Sessions — The Farther Place, which formally launched in 2020 as a response to the needs of artists. The program encourages cross-disciplinary processes, allows artists to explore nascent ideas, and often culminates in newly commissioned work. In 2017, Dorn established Fairfax Dorn Projects, a design collective synthesizing art and interiors. Dorn is a board member of Ballroom Marfa, Marfa, TX; co-chair of the Judd Foundation, Marfa, TX and New York, NY; the African Environmental Film Foundation, Kenya and New York, NY; Calder Gardens, Philadelphia, PA; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY. Dorn received E. William Doty Distinguished Alumna Award from the University of Texas in February of 2022 and ArtTable’s 25th Future Women Leadership Award in April of 2005. Dorn holds a bachelor of arts and fine arts degree from the University of Texas in Austin. Dorn is currently working on a publication of Ballroom Marfa’s 20-year history with Monacelli Press.

Portrait of Fairfax Dorn, she is wearing a emerald green blouse and smiling softly

(Ashton Do photo)

Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award

The Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award was created to honor those who profoundly and uniquely support artists, aligning with our founder Marian MacDowell’s legacy and her championship of artists as they create bold new works that spark our imagination, illuminate our world, and celebrate our humanity.

In 2020, the inaugural award was presented to Ava DuVernay and ARRAY, a multi-platform media company and arts collective based in Los Angeles that amplifies independent films by Black artists, people of color, and women filmmakers globally. In 2021, the award was presented to Mahogany L. Browne and Urban Word NYC, one of the oldest and most comprehensive youth literary arts organizations in the country. In 2022, MacDowell Fellow and founder of Anonymous Was A Woman, Susan Unterberg, was presented with the award for her advocacy and philanthropy around gender equity in the arts.

Watch the full program recorded at the Ziegfeld Ballroom.

Firas Zreik performs "Field of Figs" at the MacDowell National Benefit.

James Brandon Lewis and Kirk Knuffke play "For Mahalia, With Love" at the MacDowell National Benefit

Adam Pendleton Presents Fairfax Dorn with the fourth annual Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award.

The Lazours Perform "Tahrir is Now" at the MacDowell National Benefit.

View our slideshow of the evening below

Picture of crowd watching Firas Zreik perform with screens saying "Field of Figs, composed and performed by Firas Zreik" in the background

National Benefit guests watch MacDowell Fellow Firas Zreik (23) perform “Field of Figs” (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

Five people wearing colorful festive clothing stand on a red carpet in front of a black step and repeat that says MacDowell

MacDowell Fellows David Petersen (6x 02-17), Nell Freudenberger (3x 01-03), Andrew Sean Greer (8x 01-18), Monica Youn (4x 06-22), Julie Orringer (4x 05-23), and Ryan Harty (05, 06) (Rowena Husbands, Joy Malone, and Tylik Hill photo)

A group of five women wearing formal clothing laugh and stand in a group

Board President Christine Fisher and guests enjoy cocktail hour (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

A person in a black outfit and person in a colorful dress stand in front of a black step and repeat that says MacDowell

MacDowell Fellows Wendy Fok (22) and Arabelle Sicardi (22) (Rowena Husbands, Joy Malone, and Tylik Hill photo)

A man and woman in black wearing festive clothing stand together and smile

Presenter Adam Pendleton and 2023 Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award honoree Fairfax Dorn (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

A man in a suit, a woman in a purple jacket, and a woman in a black dress stand on a red carpet against a black step and repeat that says MacDowell

Board members Andrew Senchak, Barbara Senchak, and Amy Davidson Sorkin (Rowena Husbands, Joy Malone, and Tylik Hill photo)

A group of people about 30 people wearing colorful, festive clothing pose in front of a black step and repeat that says MacDowell

MacDowell Fellows pose on the red carpet (Rowena Husbands, Joy Malone, and Tylik Hill photo)

A man in black is talking to and stands next to a woman in white who is laughing

MacDowell Fellows Andrew Sean Greer (01, 03, 05, 06, 08, 11, 12, 18) and Suki Kim (01, 02, 03, 06, 10, 19) (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

A woman in black stands next to a woman in a colorful green dress who is giving her a side hug

Virginia Lebermann and Arden Wohl (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

A group of people stand while talking and laughing

Board member Anne Stark Locher, Board President Christine Fisher, and Roland Hartley-Urquhart (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

A woman and man wearing black formal wear stand on a red carpet in front of a black step and repeat

Board member Darrell Harvey and Robin Harvey (Rowena Husbands, Joy Malone, and Tylik Hill photo)

Two people wearing suits embrace in a ballroom full of people seated at tables

Rashawn Griffin (07, 16, 18, and 23) and Hasani Sahlehe (23) embrace before dinner (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

A group of people seated at a table with flowers and plates smile at the camera

Board member Julius Tapper, Courtenay Carella, board member Amelia Dunlop, and Charlie Woodward (Rowena Husbands, Joy Malone, and Tylik Hill photo)

A woman in a jacket and yellow dress stands and smiles at a podium

Host and actor-writer-producer Sharon Washington welcomes the crowd to the Ziegfeld Ballroom (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

A man carring a saxophone speaking into a microphone on stage while a woman in a black dress faces him

James Brandon Lewis (22) and board member Katie Firth (Rowena Husbands, Joy Malone, and Tylik Hill photo)

James Brandon Lewis (22) performs on the saxophone (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

A woman seated at a table gazes at a stage that is out of shot

MacDowell Madam Chairman of the Board Nell Painter watches the program (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

A woman in black stands at a podium, looking out onto a crowd that is out of shot

Executive Director Chiwoniso Kaitano addresses guests (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

A woman in black speaks into a microphone behind a podium and against a blue curtained backdrop

The 4th Annual Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award honoree Fairfax Dorn receives her award and presents her remarks (Rowena Husbands and Tylik Hill photo)

A man holding a guitar sits on stage while a man in a gray suit and a woman in a yellow dress stand on stage. A crowd watches the stage.

Musical duo Daniel (18) and Patrick Lazour (18) and host Sharon Washington (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

A woman speaks on stage into a microphone while screens behind her project live images of her speaking

Board member Elliott Holt (14, 17) speaks (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

Several people with their backs towards the camera look at a gold bookcase with books

Guests browse the MacDowell Fellow bookcase wall (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

A man and a woman look down at the books they have selected from the gold bookcase that is in front of them

Guests browse the MacDowell Fellow bookcase wall (Beowulf Sheehan photo)

A woman in a floral dress, a woman in a black dress, and a woman in a black outfit stand together and smile at the camera

Brenda Copeland, Jacquelynn Kerubo, and Razia Iqbal (Rowena Husbands and Tylik Hill photo)

Benefit Committee Co-Chairs

Katie Firth and Jonathan Bank
Christine and Todd Fisher
Darrell and Robin Harvey
Amy Davidson Sorkin and David Sorkin

Host Committee

Michael Almereyda*
Winsome and Claude Arpels
David Baum and Terry Reeves
Sofia A. Blanchard
Eleanor Briggs
Rosanne Cash*
Liz Cohen*
Hernan Diaz*
Amelia Dunlop and Andrew Krivak
Andrea Elliot*
Elizabeth and Russell Gaudreau
Gerald and Teresa Gartner
Jeannie Suk Gersen* and Jacob Gersen
Marc Glimcher
Andrew Sean Greer*
Lauren Groff*
John Hargraves and Nancy Newcomb
Sky Hopinka*
Lewis Hyde*
Rashid Johnson
Starlee Kine*
Virginia Lebermann
Min Jin Lee
Kalup Linzy*
Monica and Michael Lehner
Robert and Stephanie Olmsted
David Remnick
Deb Seager
Andrew and Barbara Senchak
Arabelle Sicardi* and Wendy Fok*
Julius Tapper and Enzo Gouedar
Peter and Catherine Wirth

*notes MacDowell Fellow or Medalist
**all lists as of 08/30/2023

Thank You to Our Corporate Sponsors

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