MacDowell National Benefit
Honoring Komal Shah
Art Collector and Philanthropist
Gotham Hall, New York City
6:00 p.m. Cocktail hour with passed hors d'oeuvres
7:00 p.m. Dinner, Paddle Raise, and Program
After-Party to follow
Festive Black Tie Attire
Learn more about this year's Benefit below
Join us at Gotham Hall on October 28th for the MacDowell National Benefit, our annual celebration and gathering with MacDowell artists, supporters, board members, and friends. This year's Benefit will feature dinner, drinks, a paddle raise, performances from Fellows, and the awarding of the 5th annual Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award to our Honoree Komal Shah, art collector and philanthropist.
All proceeds from the National Benefit support residencies for the more than 300 artists who come to MacDowell each year from all corners of the globe. Stay tuned for further information on this year's program.
For more information, to purchase a table, or to become a sponsor, please contact Blake Bradford at our benefit office at (212) 465-3215 or blake@blbnyc.com
If you would like to support the Benefit without registering to attend, please visit our annual donation page, make a gift of any amount, and write “For the National Benefit” in the comment box.
About our Honoree
Originally from Ahmedabad, India, Komal Shah migrated to the U.S. in 1991 to study computer science in California. After completing her master's at Stanford, she obtained an M.B.A. from the Haas School of Business at Berkeley, eventually holding positions in the executive suites of Oracle, Netscape, and Yahoo. In 2008, Shah left the tech industry to focus on philanthropic pursuits. She then began developing the Shah Garg Collection with her husband and tech entrepreneur Gaurav Garg, solidifying a vision for the collection’s emphasis on women artists in 2014. Today, they are focused on amplifying the voices of women artists and artists of color through the Shah Garg Foundation.
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. In 2023, Fairfax Dorn, co-founder and artistic director of Ballroom Marfa, was honored with the award for her life-long commitment to supporting and centering artists’ needs.
Past National Benefits
2023
In 2023, Fairfax Dorn, co-founder and artistic director of Ballroom Marfa, was honored with the fourth annual Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award for her life-long commitment to supporting and centering artists’ needs.
2022
In 2022, Rosanne Cash presented the third annual Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award to Anonymous Was A Woman (AWAW) and its visionary founder, Susan Unterberg, at a festive celebration at Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York.
2021
In 2021, MacDowell celebrated the creative collaborations between MacDowell Fellows and honored Urban Word NYC with the second annual Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award.
2020
In 2020, MacDowell hosted our first-ever virtual National Benefit and awarded the inaugural Marian MacDowell Arts Advocacy Award to ARRAY.
2019
The national benefit at Gotham Hall in New York City in 2019 raised more than half a million dollars for our residency program.
2018
The national benefit at MacDowell's NYC space at 521 West 23rd Street in 2018 raised more than $620,000 for critical operating support.