On Tuesday, May 5, ArtsConnection welcomed 130 guests to The Golden Hour: The ArtsConnection Masquerade Benefit, a festive spring evening held at the Prince George Ballroom in New York City.
The evening raised $350,000 to support ArtsConnection’s 2026–27 arts education programming for K–12 students across New York City. Founded in 1979, the organization has spent nearly five decades bringing arts learning, creative exploration, and career pathways to public school students across all art disciplines.
Hosted by Harold Ford Jr., American financial managing director, pundit, author, and former U.S. Congressman, the masquerade-themed benefit celebrated the vibrancy of New York City culture while placing arts education at the center of the evening.
Guests arrived in masquerade chic attire, many with masks in hand, stepping into a ballroom filled with live performances, visual art, music, movement, and hands-on creative moments.
A Benefit That Felt Alive With Art
The evening’s greatest strength was that art was not treated as decoration. It was the experience.
Throughout the Prince George Ballroom, guests encountered a lively mix of performances and activations that reflected the breadth of ArtsConnection’s mission. Live violinists added an elegant musical layer to the reception, while Mexico Beyond Mariachi brought a festive, cultural energy to the evening in a fitting nod to Cinco de Mayo.
Signature cocktails also leaned into the date, including a margarita that offered a playful and celebratory touch for the May 5 gathering.
Contour artist Ian Sklarsky created blind contour portraits, Gabrielle Vazquez offered live drawing, and guests also had the opportunity to make their own face masks, adding a personal layer to the masquerade theme.
A live painter brought another visual focal point to the evening, allowing guests to watch a work of art unfold in real time.
Performances With New York Energy
The entertainment program captured the range and rhythm of the city itself.
Live violinists offered a refined welcome as guests arrived, setting the tone for an evening centered on creativity and performance. Mexico Beyond Mariachi brought color, movement, and cultural storytelling to the room, while DJ Ty-Michelle carried the mood into the after-party.
The program also featured puppetry and movement by Lake Simons and Nehprii Amenii, circus artistry by Laine Barton, and performance arts by New York Chinese Cultural Center.
Together, the lineup gave the evening a sense of discovery. Around each corner was another artist, another moment, another reason to pause.
A Masquerade With Purpose
ArtsConnection’s work supports students across New York City by expanding access to the arts, building creative confidence, and helping young people engage with disciplines that may otherwise remain out of reach.
During the benefit program, honoree presentations and the introduction of the Ted S. Berger Award underscored the organization’s legacy and future-facing mission.
Harold Ford Jr. served as emcee for the evening, guiding the program with warmth and a clear emphasis on the importance of investing in young people through the arts.
The Ted S. Berger Award
One of the evening’s meaningful moments was the introduction of the Ted S. Berger Award, honoring ArtsConnection’s long-standing commitment to creativity, leadership, and access in arts education.
Artist and ArtsConnection Board of Directors member Jack Adam also spoke during the evening, bringing a personal and full-circle perspective to the program. A Yale alum, Adam first found ArtsConnection as a seventh-grade student in New York City, after a middle school teacher helped connect him with arts opportunities outside of school.
Adam went on to exhibit in ArtsConnection’s student art program, intern with the organization, and participate in one of its curatorial programs before attending college, where he studied art and computer science. Years later, he joined ArtsConnection’s Board of Directors as a way to give back to the organization that helped shape his confidence and creative path.
“I think the impact that ArtsConnection’s programs had was giving me that confidence in myself to go and learn new things,” Adam shared. “Our programs do a great job of making students feel seen and heard, and letting them know that their voice matters.”
His remarks underscored one of the evening’s most important messages: arts education does not only create future artists. It also helps shape creative thinkers, patrons, supporters, and professionals whose early exposure to the arts continues to inform how they see and move through the world.
“Art is a way to understand people, understand the world,” Adam added. “Even though on a day-to-day basis I’m working with technology, art informs how I communicate and how I see everything around me.”
Adam also noted that one of the evening’s participating artists, live drawing artist Gabrielle Vazquez, is herself an alum of ArtsConnection’s programs. The connection brought the organization’s mission into focus in a tangible way: students who once benefited from ArtsConnection are now returning as artists, advocates, board members, and supporters helping to open doors for the next generation.
A Mission Reflected Through Student Voices
During the program, Emcee Harold Ford Jr. reflected on the long-term impact of ArtsConnection’s work, particularly when students are able to engage with the arts consistently over multiple years.
He shared the story of Del Nora, a student whose connection to visual art began in first and second grade and continued as she grew older. The moment illustrated what ArtsConnection strives to make possible for more young people across New York City: sustained access to arts education, creative mentorship, and opportunities for students to see themselves as artists.
“ArtsConnection programs are an opportunity for young people to express themselves,” Ford Jr. shared, noting that the arts also help students connect with others who may come from different places but share similar interests. “All these things help young people gain confidence.”
The remarks also pointed to ArtsConnection’s OnTRaC College and Career Readiness Program, which helps young people explore creative careers and connect with mentors in related fields. For students considering paths such as theatrical design or visual design, ArtsConnection offers more than programming. It provides a space where their expertise, curiosity, and creative interests are valued.
Guests Became Part of the Experience
The most memorable benefits are often the ones that make guests feel like participants rather than spectators.
Between the live painter, portrait activations, puppetry, mask-making, music, and movement, the evening invited guests into the creative process itself. The masquerade theme worked because it was not limited to attire. It became a through-line: transformation, imagination, and self-expression.
Guests moved through the event with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, stopping to watch performances, engage with artists, and reconnect with the larger reason for the gathering.
A Celebration of Arts Education
By the end of the evening, ArtsConnection had raised $350,000 in support of its 2026–27 programming for New York City students.
The Golden Hour was celebratory without losing sight of its mission. It honored the artists, educators, board members, supporters, and students who make ArtsConnection’s work so essential.
In a city where culture is everywhere, ArtsConnection’s benefit served as a reminder that access to the arts must be nurtured, funded, and protected.
And on this spring evening at the Prince George Ballroom, that mission was not only spoken about. It was performed, painted, drawn, danced, and brought beautifully to life.
