2023 - Rise Together Gala

CITYarts is rising up with the community!

Join us in celebrating our 34th annual Making a Difference Through the Arts Awards,

to be presented at CITYarts’ Rise Together Gala.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 14, 2023

6:00-9:00pm

Metropolitan Pavilion - The Level (125 W 18th St, 5th Floor, New York City)

TAKE A PEEK INSIDE OUR GALA JOURNAL!

READ RESPONSES FROM GUESTS

We will be honoring three inspiring individuals with our Making a Difference Through the Arts Awards. These changemakers have made a significant impact on the arts, education, and in people's lives in our city and abroad. They RISE to the occasion and make our world a better place!

JERE VAN DYK — Author

Jere Van Dyk is an accomplished author, athlete, hostage advocate, and Pulitzer Prize-nominated journalist. Much of his writing has been focused on Afghanistan and Pakistan, including coverage of the Afghan-Soviet War for The New York Times and the U.S./NATO War against al-Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan for CBS News.

Van Dyk has recently published his fourth book, Without Borders: The Haqqani Network and the Road to Kabul, which narrates the untold story of the Haqqani Network and their influence in the Middle East.

Van Dyk’s second book, Captive: My Time as a Prisoner of the Taliban, details his harrowing 45-day experience as a Taliban hostage in the Tribal Areas of Pakistan in 2008. In 2010, Foreign Affairs selected it as one of the “Must-Read Books for the World Ahead.”

Van Dyk was a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Council on Ethics in International Affairs, drawing on his unique ties to the Haqqani Network, arguably the most powerful Jihadist group in the world. He was an Adjunct Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and has also worked with the National Security Council, the FBI, the State Department, in the Obama Administration, and with families to help US hostages return home.

Van Dyk is also an accomplished athlete, and in 1972 he was a Track and Field finalist in the 1500 meters in the U.S. Olympic Trials. He is a consultant to 60 Minutes and is working on a book about the death of Pat Tillman, the former professional football star and U.S. Army Ranger, who was killed in Haqqani territory in 2004.

NOHRA HAIME — Gallerist

Nohra Haime is a notable gallerist celebrating 40 years of promoting artists and art. She was born in Bogota, Colombia where she studied at the Lycée Français. She graduated from Finch College, New York in 1974 where she studied Art History and Languages and received her Master’s in Art History from the Sorbonne in Paris.

Nohra has been the Director of the Modern Art Museum of Bogota as well as the National Restoration Center in Bogota. She has taught art history and was in charge of the art section for the Spanish Edition of Harper’s Bazaar for four years.

Nohra opened the Nohra Haime Gallery in New York in 1979 and NH Galeria in Cartagena, Colombia in 2011. She is one of the founders of the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Cartagena de Indias, which premiered in 2014. She has curated several exhibitions as well as written many art-related articles. Nohra has been involved in many philanthropic causes and has been on the board of The American Friends of the Israel Museum and Free Arts NYC among them. She now serves on the board of the Serena del Mar in Cartagena, Colombia.

LISA ROCHFORD — Educator

Lisa Rochford directs Capacity Building efforts for the largest Community School initiative in the nation through her collaborative leadership across 400 + Community Schools. Under the New York City Mayor, the Department of Education’s Chancellor, and the districts’ community school initiatives, Lisa serves more than 120,000 students and families to ensure the delivery of critical wrap-around services.

In addition to facilitating improvement in medical, mental health, and attendance outcomes, Lisa works extensively to amplify the impact of expanded learning time and family engagement. With diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at the center of every policy, program, and practice that Lisa advances, she continues to serve all members of the educational ecosystem with love and compassion.

We are delighted to welcome ABC7NY Anchor

DAVID NOVARRO

as Master of Ceremony for the CITYarts Rise Together Gala!

Emmy Award-winning journalist David Novarro anchors Eyewitness News at Noon and Eyewitness News at 4:00 p.m.

He returned to the Eyewitness News Team in December 2010.

A native of Manhattan's Lower East Side and Queens, Novarro started his career with Eyewitness News as a college intern and rose through the ranks to become a reporter. He was later named New Jersey Bureau correspondent and became anchor of Eyewitness News Sunday Morning.

For Eyewitness News, Novarro has covered such notable stories as the racial profiling case that led to the overhaul of the New Jersey State Police Department, terror cells operating in New York City and New Jersey and the first World Trade Center

attack, landing a rare interview with blind Sheikh Omar Abdul-Rahman, convicted mastermind of the bombing. He was awarded an Emmy for his reports on tenants held hostage in their Brooklyn apartment building by drug dealers who had turned their home into a crack house.

Novarro helped grow the Eyewitness News community affairs show "Tiempo," the first public affairs program dedicated to issues of interest to the Hispanic community to air in New York City. He is very proud of his Latino roots and works hard to better his community.

In 2000, David moved to Chicago to become anchor of WFLD-TV's morning newscast, and in 2007 he was tapped to anchor the station's new 10PM newscast. While in Chicago, he reported on Barack Obama's presidential campaign, with profiles on the then Senator and his family at their home. He anchored live coverage from Grant Park during Obama's historic election night victory. In 2010, Novarro was voted "Best Newscaster" in a Chicago radio poll. Shortly thereafter he returned to his journalistic roots in New York.

Novarro is a graduate of New York University. He is married and is the proud father of son Daniel.

We are excited to welcome Christie’s Senior Vice President & Client Relationship Director

JENNIFER WRIGHT

as our Live Auctioneer for the 2023 CITYarts Rise Together Gala!

Jennifer Wright a Senior Vice President and Client Relationship Director in the Client Advisory group of the Chairman’s Office at Christie’s New York where she manages and develops a portfolio of the company’s top US clients across all collecting categories, and where she has been the driver of several single-owner-sales. Jennifer is also co-head of Christie’s charity auctioneering program and has been a charity auctioneer for over 12 years. Jennifer earned her undergraduate degree in Art History at Georgetown University, a Master’s degree in Fine and Decorative Art from Sotheby’s Institute, and a Master of Arts degree from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts. She is currently a member of the Council of Fellows at the Morgan Library, and an emeritus member of the Georgetown College Board of Advisors, as well as the founder and inaugural chairwoman of the Director’s Council for the Georgetown University Art Galleries.

THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT SUPPORTERS

CITYarts’ 2023 LEADERSHIP CIRCLE

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING CITYarts PUBLIC ART PROGRAMS!

ANGEL

Dr. Miriam Adelson/The Adelson Family Foundation

SPONSOR

Peter Lefkin & Christopher Worthley/Allianz of America

BENEFACTOR

Daniel Beauchemin/Chelsea Frames

Sonia de Haime

AMBASSADOR

Agnes Gund

Kathy and Daniel Haime

Fran Schulman

Vera Sung and Jill Sung/Abacus Federal Savings Bank

Jed Walentas/Walentas Foundation

PATRON

Sindy Aprigliano

The Morrison & Foerster Foundation

Oren and Claire Cohen

Barbara Graham/REAL Wellness

Jenny Holzer

Robert Friedman/Sheppard Mullin

Steven Shachat

FRIEND

Stephen Bitterman

Anna Carbonell

Eleanor Flomenhaft

Sheryl & Lawrence Greenberg

Charlie Hollander/Gemstone King

Helene and Jim Lawrence

Ralph Lerner

Stephen Maharam and Camila Pastor

Joyce Pomeroy Schwartz

Elaine Sisman and Martin Fridson

Nina Yankowitz

DONOR

Donna Barrett

Geoffrey Bradfield

Bharat and Sujata Didwania

Henry Buhl

Catherine Clarke

Helena Consuegra

Kaya Deckelbaum

Liz Fischer

Bilha Fish

Diane Foley/James W. Foley Legacy Foundation

Naimish Gohil

Cristina Grajales

Nicole Haime and Ross Kamhi

Kirk Hall

Susan Harris

Donna Harkavy

Aden Hayes

Marlene, Paul, and John Herring/Herring Finn Foundation

Susan Hirsch

Christopher Jenkins

Ruthie Kalai

Charlotta Kotik

Raymond Learsy

Gail Leboff

Susana Leval

Frank Levin/TD Wealth

Melvyn Lewinter

Thomas Lollar

Anne Louie/TD Bank

Bernard Lumpkin

Marjorie Martay

Maria Maury

Carmen Melian

David McCraw

Thomas Monahan

John L. Moore

Robert H. Pittinger

Bishop Milton and Lady Karen Rochford

Rozina Vavetsi

Ingrid Wright

CITYarts’ 2023 ARTIST CIRCLE

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING CITYarts 50 States of Peace Initiative!

CITYarts’ 2023 LUXURY GOODS DONORS

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING CITYarts PUBLIC ART PROGRAMS!