Jaye Moon, JT Rogers, Cristina Enriquez-Bocobo, and Commissioner Laurie Cumbo to be Honored at 2025 NYFA Hall of Fame Benefit
NYFA’s 2025 Hall of Fame Benefit will be held on Tuesday, March 18 at Gotham Hall in Manhattan.
NYFA will celebrate the induction of four honorees into the NYFA Hall of Fame during its annual benefit on Tuesday, March 18 at Gotham Hall, 1356 Broadway, New York, NY 10018. This annual event is a vibrant celebration of the arts and an acknowledgement of both the remarkable artists we serve and the incredible patrons who support our mission.
Established in 2011 as NYFA’s most significant fundraiser, the ticketed event will feature cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, a silent auction, dinner and an awards presentation, and dessert. All proceeds will benefit NYFA’s programming and mission to empower artists at critical stages of their lives.
The evening’s honorees are:
- Jaye Moon, Visual Arts, Fellow in Sculpture ‘09
- JT Rogers, Playwright, Fellow in Playwriting/Screenwriting ’04, ’08, ’16
- Cristina Enriquez-Bocobo, Patron of the Arts, Partner at Makeable LLC
- Commissioner Laurie Cumbo, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs
Program:
- 6:30-7:30 PM Cocktails and Hors d’oeuvres, Silent Auction
- 7:30-9:00 PM Dinner and Honors
- 9:00-9:30 PM Dessert
Guests will receive a signed Jaye Moon artwork (limited-edition of 300). Attire is festive.
NYFA Board Members Lesley-Anne Gliedman and Sarah Young O’Donnell are the 2025 Hall of Fame Benefit Co-Chairs. Liz Christensen, NYFA Advisory Council; Marc J. Jason, NYFA Board Chair; and J. Wesley McDade, NYFA Vice Board Chair, comprise the 2025 Hall of Fame Benefit Committee. Please click here for a full list of the Host and Artist Committees.
On the inductees, arts advocate and NYFA Board Chair Marc J. Jason said: “We need visionary artists, patrons of the arts, and arts administrators now more than ever. Jaye Moon, JT Rogers, Cristina Enriquez-Bocobo, and Laurie Cumbo exemplify these groups and how art can bring communities together. We look forward to celebrating Jaye, JT, Cristina, and Laurie this March,” he added.
Past Hall of Fame Inductees include Ida Applebroog, Paul Beatty, Sanford Biggers, James Casebere, Christopher d’Amboise, Marylyn Dintenfass, Anna Deavere Smith, Min Jin Lee, Zhou Long, Christian Marclay, Terry McMillan, Mira Nair, Lynn Nottage, Eric Overmyer, Suzan-Lori Parks, Wendy Perron, Dwight Rhoden, Faith Ringgold, Carolee Schneemann, Andres Serrano, Carmelita Tropicana, Donna Uchizono, Kay WalkingStick, Chin Chih Yang, and Nina Yankowitz.
“Artists like Jaye Moon and JT Rogers help us to better understand the world around us through their impactful work. Through her patronage, Cristina Enriquez-Bocobo supports and uplifts artists and adds to New York City’s vibrancy. Commissioner Laurie Cumbo has been a pillar of the New York art ecosystem for decades and we are grateful for her leadership and service,” said Michael Royce, CEO, NYFA. “We’re thrilled to honor Jaye, JT, Cristina, and Commissioner Cumbo at our 2025 benefit.”
Jaye Moon has been crafting interactive braille paintings using LEGO bricks since the 1990s. Her LEGO Braille paintings clearly demonstrate her innovative approach to accessible art, emphasizing inclusivity and tactile engagement. In these works, Moon translates movie scripts, song lyrics, her own writing, and other literature with a distinct approach: the text becomes an abstract painting to viewers not familiar with Braille. It’s only by touching the surface that her text transcends its pure aesthetic appearance and takes on the meaning embodied within.
Moon’s work has been exhibited at institutions including the Brooklyn Museum, the Queens Museum in New York, the Nam June Paik Art Center, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art in Korea. Moon holds an MFA degree in sculpture from Pratt Institute and is represented by Jennifer Baahng Gallery, in both New York and Seoul.
JT Rogers is an internationally-recognized playwright and screenwriter. He is the creator, author and showrunner of Tokyo Vice on MAX, and the author and executive producer of the Emmy-nominated and Critics Choice Award-winning HBO film Oslo. His latest play, Corruption, about the Murdoch newspapers phone-hacking scandal in the UK, had a sold-out run at Lincoln Center Theater this past spring.
Rogers’ play of Oslo received the 2017 Tony, New York Critics, Outer Critics, Drama Desk, Drama League, Lortel and Obie awards for Best Play, and was nominated for the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards. His 2019 play One Giant Leap: The Apollo 11 Moon Landing, staring Samuel L. Jackson and Jeff Daniels, debuted on Broadway and was live streamed around the world. Other plays include Blood and Gifts and The Overwhelming, which have been seen at the National Theater in London, at Lincoln Center Theater and around the U.S. and the world. Rogers is a Guggenheim fellow and holds an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Cristina Enriquez-Bocobo is a multifaceted creative force, recognized for her lifelong dedication to the arts, cultural institutions, and the empowerment of artists. She is currently Managing Partner at Makeable LLC, a creative consultancy focused on philanthropic and nonprofit innovation, in addition to being the founder of both Enriquez-Bocobo NYC, a company specializing in modern furniture, interior architecture design, and art consulting, and CocoRedoux, an art-cycled apparel and accessory brand supporting children’s charities, blending sustainability with social impact. Previously, she worked at Sotheby’s, specializing in Photographs and Multimedia works.
As an artist, Enriquez-Bocobo’s enduring passion lies in welded sculpture and furniture design, with her works exhibited at the Sculpture Center and several New York City galleries. Her dedication to the arts also extends to leadership roles within pivotal New York institutions. She has served on the Board of Directors for The Kitchen and Artadia, as a founding donor of Performa, and as a member of The Whitney Museum’s Film Committee. Enriquez-Bocobo is also the co-founder of the Soho Renaissance Factory (SRF), an artist collective born from the pandemic’s plywood murals in Soho.
Laurie Cumbo was appointed as the Commissioner of Cultural Affairs for the City of New York by Mayor Eric Adams in March 2022. She previously served as majority leader in the New York City Council and represented the City Council’s 35th district for eight years. Cumbo focused her career on institution building and worked diligently throughout her tenure in the City Council to secure permanent cultural homes for the Noel Pointer Foundation, Ifetayo Cultural Arts Center, the Brooklyn Music School, and The Brooklyn Pride Center, among others.
Prior to her time in the City Council, Cumbo founded Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA) in Brooklyn and worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the High Museum, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. At MoCADA, Cumbo was instrumental in expanding the museum to a newly renovated space at the James E. Davis 80 Arts Building in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, and pushed to build a multimillion-dollar, state-of-the-art museum into its new home in the BAM South Building in partnership with BAM, The Brooklyn Public Library, and 651 Arts. She graduated with a BA degree in Art History from Spelman College and a MA degree in Visual Arts Administration from New York University.
Ticket prices start at $700 and Tables at $7,000; you can purchase tickets here. For more information about NYFA’s Hall of Fame Benefit, please contact the Development Department at [email protected] or 212.366.6900 x 207.