Dear Friends,
Monday night’s ArtsConnection gala was a truly fabulous evening: we surpassed our fundraising goal, and, most importantly, celebrated the many accomplishments of our students, teachers, artists and honorees to close our year on a high note!
We are so grateful to everyone who helped make this event possible. Our incredible honorees, Golden Globe Award-winning actress/writer Lena Dunham and Sotheby’s Executive Vice President and Chairman of the Fine Arts Division, Amy Cappellazzo, both spoke eloquently and passionately about the influence arts education had on their lives. Our ArtsConnection students performed, and an alumna of our Teen Programs shared her inspiring personal story with our guests. Our host, Ben Mulroney, and special guest, Sarah Silverman, entertained the crowd all night. Most importantly, thanks to our supporters, we raised over $900,000 for ArtsConnection to bring the arts into the schools that need it the most!
This generosity allows us to provide innovative arts programming to thousands of students in New York City’s public schools each year, and we look forward to continuing this important work for many years to come.
Thanks again to everyone who helped make Monday night such a special evening—we hope to see you at next year’s Benefit Celebration!
Sincerely,
Lisa Plepler
Board Chairman
ArtsConnection Board of Directors
L-R: Amy Cappellazzo, Andrew Rannells, Lena Dunham, Lisa Plepler, Linda Janklow
Students from MS 266 in Brooklyn kicked off the celebration with a performance from Once on This Island JR.
Canadian TV host Ben Mulroney as charming as ever as the evening’s emcee
Student Art Program participants present their original art work as gifts to our honorees
Linda Janklow presents the 2016 Janklow Award to Principal Ronnie Shuster, and teaching artists Andrew Markus and Leah Miles
ArtsConnection Teen Programs alumna and current intern, Shanalda Johnson, stole everyone’s heart remarking on her experiences with ArtsConnection
Sarah Silverman closing out the night with laughter
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