NYFA Inducts Jaye Moon, JT Rogers, Cristina Enriquez-Bocobo, and Commissioner Laurie Cumbo into its Hall of Fame at Annual Spring Benefit
NYFA gala celebrates the arts by acknowledging the artists we serve and the patrons who support our mission.
On Tuesday, March 18, NYFA’s annual Hall of Fame Benefit brought approximately 300 artists and arts supporters together at Gotham Hall in Manhattan in celebration of the arts, inducting 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; and Commissioner Laurie Cumbo, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs into its Hall of Fame. Read more about NYFA’s 2025 honorees here.
Established in 2011 as NYFA’s most significant fundraiser, the benefit featured a banquet dinner, an awards ceremony, and a silent auction of art and experiences to support NYFA’s programs for artists and arts workers. The celebration is a tribute to the spirit of creativity and dedication that embodies NYFA’s mission.
Among those in attendance were Tobin Bell, Actor; André Bishop, Artistic Director and Producing Artistic Director, Lincoln Center Theater; Nancy Hood, Chief Marketing Officer, 1stDibs; Jeffrey Horowitz, Founding Artistic Director, Theatre for a New Audience; Lucy Kaylin, Editor in Chief, Hearst Publications; Erika Mallin, Executive Director, New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA); Alton Murray, Deputy Commissioner of NYC’s Department of Cultural Affairs; Alan Poul, Film Producer and Television Director; Duke Riley, Artist; Bart Sher, Theatre Director; Eric Shiner, President, Powerhouse Arts; Shirley Solomon, Interim Co-Director, Bronx Museum; and Eugenie Tsai, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Brooklyn Museum.
Those attending from the NYFA community included Michael Royce, NYFA CEO; Marc J. Jason, NYFA Board Chair; J. Wesley McDade, NYFA Vice Board Chair; Sarah Young O’Donnell and Lesley-Anne Gliedman, Event Co-Chairs and NYFA Board Members; Marylyn Dintenfass, 2023 NYFA Hall of Fame Inductee and Artist Committee Member; Carmelita Tropicana, 2023 NYFA Hall of Fame Inductee and NYFA Board Member; Nina Yankowitz, 2024 NYFA Hall of Fame Inductee; Artist Committee Members James Casebere, Jennifer Wen Ma, Andres Serrano, Arthur Simms, and Emily Mae Smith; NYFA Affiliated Artists including Martita Abril, Alvin Eng, Yanira Castro, Ekene Ijeoma, Dena Igusti, Anna Ortiz, Mac Premo, and Armita Raafat; and Board Members Leslie Boyce, Myrna Chao, Alessandra DiGiusto, Christopher Donini, Michael Findlay, Grace Angela Henry, Seth Levin, George Mueller, Laura Montross, Jack Rosenberg, Christopher Rudd, Säid Sayrafiezadeh, Justin Tobin, and Elizabeth von Habsburg.
The event kicked off with a lively cocktail reception where guests enjoyed and bid on an array of artworks by NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows, participants of NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring program participants, Fiscal Sponsorship project directors, and dedicated members of NYFA’s creative community.
The dinner and awards ceremony began with a short video by Mac Premo (Fellow in Video ‘08) and Adrianna Dufay, featuring NYFA-supported artists Sarah Hennies, Ekene Ijeoma, Dena Igusti, Jennifer Wen Ma, and Omar Román De Jesús. It illustrated NYFA’s impact on these artists and on the larger arts community as not only a grant-giving organization but one that provides mentorship, professional development, and vital resources. Watch the video here.
NYFA CEO Michael Royce then gave a warm welcome, highlighting NYFA’s ongoing commitment to the arts and the more than $80 million that NYFA has distributed to more than 12,000 artists over its more than 50 year history–in addition to the more than 1 million creatives NYFA serves through online opportunities. He thanked donors and the NYFA Board, with a special acknowledgement to NYFA Board Chair Marc J. Jason–who will soon step down from NYFA’s Board of Trustees after six years in the position.
Grace Angela Henry, the event Emcee, introduced Erika Mallin, Executive Director, New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). Mallin recognized each of the honorees, and highlighted NYSCA’s ongoing partnership with NYFA that includes the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship–which has granted more than $36 million to more than 5,500 artists across New York State since 1985.
Said Mallin: “We all know that when we all support NYFA and its programs, when we all invest in the arts, we are giving artists the greatest and most important gifts–the freedom and support to create. And when we support artists, we are directly investing in the health of our communities, neighborhoods, and our state.”
Throughout the evening, Co-Chairs Sarah Young O’Donnell and Lesley-Anne Gliedman introduced the 2025 Hall of Fame inductees, beginning with Jaye Moon (Fellow in Sculpture ‘09).
In a video on the artist, Moon described her work and how it helped her to connect people as a Korean immigrant to the United States in the 1990s. Her colorful sculptural works, created with LEGOS in Braille, are meant to be universally understood and accessible by both sight and touch. “The reason I choose LEGO bricks is that LEGO bricks are based on a numerical system which transcends race, culture, and language barriers.”
She recalled that before she got the NYFA grant, some people were skeptical about her work. She felt seen by NYFA, saying “NYFA really gave me the opportunity to pursue my career path. NYFA has a remarkable vision, they have the ability to recognize emerging artistic potentials and provide unconditional support to artists.”
Upon being inducted into NYFA’s Hall of Fame, Moon thanked those who believed in her work and NYFA for being part of her creative journey. She underscored the power of the arts saying: “Art is not just about what we see; it’s about what we feel, what we question, and how we connect with one another. It is a language that speaks beyond words and barriers. I believe art has the power to remind us of our shared humanity. This honor is my new beginning and I will continue to create art that embraces and unites.”
JT Rogers (Fellow in Playwriting/Screenwriting ’04, ’08, ’16) was the next honoree to be inducted into NYFA’s Hall of Fame. In a short video, Rogers spoke about his love for narrative work and how it becomes alive with collaboration with others and audiences. A three-time NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow, Rogers described having vivid memories of the times he received the “call-slash-email.”
His first grant not only gave him a much-needed financial boost, but the peer validation that he needed to keep writing. Rogers said: “You write for yourself and then you write for the colleagues and peers you admire, whose work has excited you, who you want to be part of a community with. So for a group of those people to say ‘We see you, we validate what you’re doing,’ it’s really hard to express how meaningful that was.”
Following the video, Rogers thanked and uplifted his long-time collaborators (many of whom were in attendance) brought the crowd to their feet by addressing the urgent need for artists to create fearlessly, particularly during trying times.
“The art we make in all its multiplicity of forms is about the fluidity and complexity of truth, about the truth that there is no one truth. That is why those who seek to crush dissent, always, always, come for the artists. My fellow members of the tribe, we are about to be tested. Things are dark, they are going to get darker. To think otherwise is to ignore history. So I say to you tonight, with all my heart. Hold true to your beliefs. Make work that asks hard questions…It is our right and our duty to stand tall, to make work that enriches the world, work that is for everyone.”
Marc J. Jason, NYFA Board Chair, thanked guests for celebrating the honorees and supporting NYFA. He acknowledged the challenges faced during the six years of his tenure as Board Chair, and the uncertainties that lie ahead. “NYFA has been around for over 50 years. For decades, we have been guided by a solid set of principles. And I can tell you that NYFA is going to remain true to those principles. We support artists of all backgrounds, and all orientations. We will continue to do so. Art can change the world, and indeed art does change the world. And we need artists more than ever.”
Patron of the Arts Cristina Enriquez-Bocobo, a significant source of support to individual artists in New York City, was introduced by Fine Art Consultant Jamie Niven and Artist Duke Riley. Niven, who worked with Enriquez-Bocobo at Sotheby’s, called her a “multi-faceted creative force” who today focuses on helping artists directly. Riley thanked Enriquez-Bocobo for helping him to realize ambitious projects at Brooklyn Navy Yard and Brooklyn Museum, and highlighted how she similarly has helped Kara Walker and Nick Cave to realize major public works that have hugely impacted New York City.
In a video highlighting Enriquez-Bocobo, she spoke about how, through NYFA, she helped to support individual artists in the SoHo Renaissance Factory artist collective during the pandemic. The funding helped the artists to create community-facing artworks that inspired dialog and conversation on the streets of New York City. Enriquez-Bocobo said about individual artists: “I think that they are the truth-sayers of what is happening in real time.”
In live remarks at Gotham Hall, Enriquez-Bocobo said: “Supporting artists through programs like the NYFA Artist Fund is a privilege. It allows visionary individuals to create, to push boundaries, and be agents of change–which is incredibly important right now. The creative process is often complex, sometimes solitary, but always essential.”
Commissioner Laurie Cumbo, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, has been instrumental in pushing the arts in New York City forward for decades. In video remarks, she noted her role of celebrating, highlighting, and elevating art and culture into every facet of New York City.
She acknowledged the role that organizations like NYFA play in the arts ecosystem in New York City: “Organizations like NYFA are really important, because when artists and arts organizations are trying to bring an idea to the world, they need assistance, they need technical support, and NYFA does that on so many levels.” Commissioner Cumbo came into the NYFA fold in her 20’s through the Fiscal Sponsorship program, when she began work on Brooklyn’s first African Diaspora art museum. Fittingly, earlier this year Commissioner Cumbo recently cut the ribbon on the multi-million dollar state-of-the-art Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (MoCADA).
In her live remarks, Commissioner Cumbo recognized the challenging times and artists’ roles in pushing the culture forward. “If we truly believe, like I know many of you do, that the artists, the creatives, are what’s going to evolve this world, is what is going to save this world…if we truly believe that the artists are going to bring us together, that the artists have the greatest opportunity to bring diplomacy to end war, to show us each other, to bring the others together, to be bolder, to step out…it is critical that we support NYFA and all of the organizations that are doing that work.”
Following the award ceremony, guests heard from Shanjana Mahmud (Anonymous Was A Woman Environmental Art Grants Recipient ‘22). Mahmud, along with her partner Luke Eddins, was part of the AWAW EAG inaugural cohort. The grant funding helped to support “Winter Species,” an experimental pollution remediation project that cultivated seaweed in Newtown Creek, a designated Superfund site in New York, NY (which evolved into urban seaweed farming project Seaweed City).
When speaking to how the grant helped them and their project, Mahmud said: “I love being on the water, the hands-on work of fabrication and installation. But we wanted the project to be more communal, and that’s what the environmental arts grant made possible.” It enabled Mahmud and Eddins to bring people out to the city’s waterways, immersing them in the project and working towards their vision of an urban future in which community seaweed farms are as common as urban community gardens.
The event ended with dessert and animated conversations between benefit guests, who left Gotham Hall with a limited edition work by Jaye Moon titled LOVE, which was inspired by lyrics in Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind.” The word ‘Love’ is spelled out in Braille, constructed entirely from 39 LEGO bricks. Wrote Moon about the work: “This artwork conveys a message: in a world overwhelmed by war, chaos, and greed, love is the driving force that has the power to heal, unify, and elevate us above it all.”
