Out & About

Parking Garage Goes Glam for Guggenheim Gala

Out & About

By AMANDA GORDON
November 14, 2007

With the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation's record of global expansion — last night it presented Frank Gehry's design for an outpost in Abu Dhabi — throwing a party in a parking garage on Pier 40 in Hudson River Park was comparatively simple.

All it took was some cardboard (both the flat and corrugated kinds), matching beige carpet, temporary glass window walls, and a few ovens and steel tables, where the staff of Le Cirque prepared dinner.

Oh, and there were golf carts too — the stretch-limo kind, with fake fur blankets draped over the seats — which transported several hundred movers and shakers in the art world from the pier entrance to the garage past some soccer fields. Candles in glass lanterns lit the way for the foundation's chairman, William Mack, its president, Jennifer Blei Stockman, and its director, Thomas Krens.

The decorating feat of event designer David Monn was the top subject of party chatter (even trumping an appearance from actor Owen Wilson). The exchange overheard dozens of times went something like this: "Did you know this is a parking garage?" lady with fur wrap, eyes looking upward, exclaims.

"I can't believe it," man with black-rim glasses and whiskey in hand, replies.

Wasn't it impractical to make a transformation like this just for one night?

"Not at all," Mr. Monn said, as his hand glided across the surface of the cardboard dining room table Larry Gagosian sat at later. "One night only: That's the magic. That's what makes the Guggenheim International Gala so special." (Two years ago, Mr Monn designed the event on the plaza of the Seagram Building last year he created a fall fantasy in Central Park.)

"It's the most spectacular party space I've ever seen," Ms. Stockman said.

The event, which took place last Thursday, raised $4.4 million for the foundation, counting sponsorships (Miami luxury condominium development Regalia was one), a live auction (the Campana brothers' chair, made of Walt Disney stuffed animals went for $85,000), and ticket sales.

Guests appropriated cardboard table accessories — place-mats and candle holders — to take home as souvenirs. Each guest also received a white pillow designed by Douglas Gordon.

The chairwomen of the event were Caryl Englander, Jacqueline Sackler, and the former president of the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Lisa Dennison, who left this summer to take a job at Sotheby's.

"We thank her for continuing to work for the Guggenheim in her spare time," Ms. Stockman said at the podium.

Indeed, she seemed to be working the hardest. She was one of the last guests to hop a golf cart ride back to the pier entrance — with a top collector in tow.

agordon@nysun.com