On Tuesday, Nov. 11, the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) will host the 2014 MAD Ball, celebrating four influential creators and leaders in the art, craft and design industries whose work personifies the Museum’s mission to explore and celebrate contemporary making and skilled craftsmanship across all media.
This year’s Visionaries! Awards will celebrate a year of exciting leadership with new director Glenn Adamson. To further MAD’s mission to celebrate innovation and excellence across all creative disciplines, MAD is honoring a range of artists, designers and artisans, as well as the enterprises and patrons who support them.
Michael Aram, Richard Dupont, Barry Friedman
This year’s honorees include Michael Aram, founder of Michael Aram, Inc. which is celebrating 25 years in business this year; multi-media artist Richard Dupont, in recognition of his remarkable innovations in the arts and the field of digital design; Barry Friedman, who has spent the last 50 years as a gallerist and collector dealing with art from the late 19th century to the present; and Ligne Roset, in honor of the more than 150 years of the company’s rich design heritage and dedication to craftsmanship.
Ligne Roset product
“It’s an honor for the museum to award such leaders and creators, who epitomize MAD’s commitment to contemporary craftsmanship, innovation and creativity,” said Lewis Kruger, chairman of the museum's board. “The outstanding achievements of this year's honorees have influenced the creative world at large and will continue to reverberate in our everyday lives.”
The Museum has commissioned artist Miriam Ellner to create the awards this year. Ellner, one of the foremost designers working in the ancient technique of Verre Eglomisé, the process of gilding precious metals on the reverse side of glass, was featured in the recent exhibition NYC Makers: The MAD Biennial, which spotlighted the diverse creative communities thriving across the five boroughs today.
Miriam Ellner
Ellner has created a special series of sculptures, “Light Catchers,” which are elegant gilded glass seed-like forms, set in a bronze structure that moves to capture the changing light where they are installed.
To highlight the Museum’s mission of championing contemporary creativity across all disciplines, this year’s MAD Ball will inaugurate the Makers Showcase: a platform for live artistic demonstrations. “Artists-Makers” this year include photographer Benjamin Fredrickson, ceramicist Zack Davis, and pastry chef Olivier Dessyn of Mille-Feuille Bakery.
The MAD Ball will be held at Pier 60 in New York City. The festive evening will begin at 6:30 p.m. with cocktails, the Makers Showcase and a silent auction, followed by dinner, the awards presentation and live entertainment at 7:30 p.m. Tickets to the MAD Ball may be purchased online or by contacting Stephanie Lang at 212.299.7729 or via email.
