Rose Art Museum Holds First Benefit Gala in Over 20 Years

The evening honored Lizbeth Krupp and Hugh Hayden, and raised over $900,000 for a major new exhibition endowment

Lizabeth Krupp, Gannit Ankori, and Hugh Hayden at the Rose Art Museum Gala, May 12, 2025. Photo by Danté Chrichlow for BFA.

(New York, NY–May 13, 2025) — Last night, The Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University hosted its first Gala event in over twenty years in New York City. This historic event launched the museum’s most ambitious fundraising effort to date: a $2 million Exhibition Endowment Fund dedicated to securing the future of groundbreaking contemporary art exhibitions at the Rose, established by a lead gift from Lizbeth Krupp. This momentous occasion united artists, scholars, collectors, and supporters to celebrate the museum’s legacy and future. The evening raised over $900,000 to further strengthen the Exhibition Endowment Fund.

The 2025 Gala honored Lizbeth Krupp, longtime Chair of the Rose Art Museum’s Board of Advisors, and acclaimed artist Hugh Hayden. Krupp has been a steadfast leader, guiding the museum through over a decade of transformation and ensuring its role as a vital center for contemporary art. Hayden is one of the leading artists of his generation, with the Rose presenting his first major survey in New England, Hugh Hayden: Home Work (September 18, 2024 – June 1, 2025). Sara Friedlander, a Rose Board of Advisors member and Deputy Chairman of Christie’s, and Abigail Ross Goodman, Co-Founder of Goodman Taft, co-chaired the event. The Presenting Sponsor was The Milikowsky Family.

“As we honor our extraordinary honorees, we also plant seeds for the Rose’s future,” said Gannit Ankori, Director and Chief Curator of the Rose Art Museum. “The Exhibition Endowment is a visionary commitment—one that safeguards curatorial freedom and nurtures artistic daring for generations to come. It ensures that the legacy we shape today will continue to illuminate, provoke, and expand access to bold contemporary art and ideas far into the future.”

Since its founding in 1961, the Rose Art Museum has been a leader in contemporary art through groundbreaking exhibitions that challenge and inspire. Landmark shows such as Vision & Television (1970), the first U.S. museum exhibition on video art, and Pretty Raw: After and Around Helen Frankenthaler (2015) have shaped scholarly discourse in the field, while Rose Art Museum’s commission of Mark Bradford: Tomorrow is Another Day (in partnership with the Baltimore Museum of Art) for the U.S. Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale amplified a critical voice on a global stage. 

Notable guests included: Gannit Ankori, Rose Art Museum Henry and Lois Foster Director and Chief Curator, Ian Alteveer, Leilah Babirye, Ali Banisadr, Nicholas Baume, Gina Beavers, Christopher Bedford, Katherine Brinson, Zoë Buckman, Kim Conaty, Peggy Fogelman, Alex Gartenfeld, Jorie Graham, Jenna Gribbon, Lyle Ashton Harris, Hugh Hayden, Tishan Hsu, Lizbeth Krupp, Hannah Levy, Alex Logsdail, Nate Lowman, Kathleen Lynch, Helina Metafaria, Danielle Mckinney, Sarah Montross, Alison Croney Moses, Angel Otero, Gabriela Palmieri, Rachel Koffsky Parker, Brooke Kamin Rapaport, Jeanne Greenberg Rohatyn, Anne Samat, Ilana Savdie, Jean Shin, Jessica Silverman, Avery Singer, Sheida Soleimani, Marc Straus, Ryan Sullivan, Sally Tallant, Ed Tang, Salman Toor, Marie Watt, and B. Wurtz. 

ABOUT THE ROSE ART MUSEUM AT BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY

Rose Art Museum fosters community, experimentation, and scholarship through direct engagement with modern and contemporary art, artists, and ideas. Founded in 1961, the Rose is among the nation’s preeminent university art museums and houses one of New England's most extensive collections of modern and contemporary art. Through its exceptional collection, support of emerging artists, and innovative programming, the museum serves as a nexus for art and social justice at Brandeis University and beyond. Located just 20 minutes from downtown Boston, Rose Art Museum is open Wednesdays–Sundays, 11 AM–5 PM. Admission is free.

Upcoming exhibitions include:

Fred Wilson: Reflections - August 20, 2025–January 4, 2026

Danielle Mckinney: Tell me More - August 20, 2025–January 4, 2026

Fabricated Imaginaries: Crafting Art - August 20, 2025–May 31, 2026

For more information or to access the press kit, contact Chad Sirois, Associate Director of Communications and Marketing, or call 508.612.5128. Follow the Rose Art Museum on Facebook and Instagram.

For press inquiries:

THIRD EYE 

Tyler Mahowald | tyler@hellothirdeye.com

Zach Wampler | zach@hellothirdeye.com