Festivals and affairs

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In the Persian Garden at Untermyer Gardens in Yonkers, celebrating the Conservancy 's inaugural Samuel Untermyer Awards dinner.

The Untermyer Gardens Conservancy presented its inaugural Samuel Untermyer Award to Christiane Amanpour on Sunday, September 16, during its annual celebration of Mehregan, the ancient Persian harvest festival. The event took place at Untermyer Gardens in Yonkers, which is home to the finest Persian garden in the Western Hemisphere. Traditional Persian music filled the air as late-afternoon cocktails in the garden culminated in a performance by the Vancouver Pars National Ballet in the outdoor amphitheater beneath the twin sphinxes sculpted by Paul Manship.


Vancouver Pars National Ballet at the amphitheater

Guests enjoyed lavish Persian cuisine in an open tent with spectacular views of sunset on the Hudson River. Vartan Gregorian presented the award to Christiane Amanpour; both are Iranian-born. Violin virtuoso Oliver Hakim dazzled the crowd of 250 with his performance in the Temple of the Sky against the night sky as guests threw esphand seeds into the ceremonial fire pits to ward off the evil eye. The Gala co-chairs were Nazee Moinian and Victoria Sakhai.

The event raised funds to support the Conservancy’s efforts to restore Untermyer Gardens and its once grand ruined Persian Pool. Built a century ago by Samuel Untermyer, a pioneering lawyer and reformer, and designed by famed architect William Welles Bosworth, it was once called the most spectacular garden in America. Since 2011 the Conservancy has worked to restore the gardens’ lost beauty after decades of neglect. It now welcomes 70,000 visitors a year and is the only great public garden in America that is free to the public.


Nazee Moinian (event co-chair), Christiane Amanpour (honoree), and Steve Byrns (UCG President)
Daniella Amirian, Shireen Sakhai, and Victoria Sakhai (event co-chair)
Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel and Christiane Amanpour
Mariam Azarm, Homaira Akbari, Janet Montag, Sheila Canby, and Leila Castellaneta
Hamid Biglari and Laya Khadjavi
Beth Rudin Dewoody and Firooz Zahedi
Suzy Azadi and Sherry Moezinia
Marc Karimzadeh and Whitney Robinson
Kayvan and Yassmine Hakim with Azita Aghravi
Tooraj and Nassrin Zahedi with Masood Khatamee
Bob Hormats, Cyrus Amir-Mokri, and Faraj Saghri
Bita Alaghebandan and Matthew Moinian
Ann Carmel, UCG Chair, great-granddaughter of Samuel Untermyer
Vartan Gregorian
Violinist Oliver Hakim at the Temple of the Sky
Vancouver Pars National Ballet at the Temple of the Sky
Ceremonial burning of Esphand to ward off the evil eye
Bonfire

Women Artists: Reshaping The Conversation, the series founded by Toni Ross and dedicated to her mentor, Elaine de Kooning, had its final panel of the season on Saturday, September 22 at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton.  Moderated by Barbara Toll, it was devoted to sculptors with artists Alice Hope, Sheila Pepe, Brie Ruais, and Kennedy Yanko participating.

Introducing the panelists, Toni Ross said, “This has been an amazing journey since starting these conversations last summer. It was unforeseen what has transpired with women in the workplace.” Sheila Pepe wryly observed, “Gender and economics are still tied in what I’ll call an unusual way … Can you image a year from now where we’ll be taking about the intersection of feminism and racism?” Although the Hamptons summer season was over, more than 100 guests arrived promptly at LongHouse and lingered long after the talk.



LongHouse founder Jack Lenor Larsen and Peter Olsen were there with guests Diana Diamond and John Alschuler; Sherri Donghia and Barbara Butler; Phyllis Hollis, Susan and Ronald Kaufmann, Eileen O’Kane Kornreich, Laurie Lambrecht, Americk Lewis, Patricia Margulies, Beth and George Meredith, Bonnie Munchin, Steve and Sandy Perlbinder, Hala and James Salomon, Sheri Sandler, Bastienne Schmidt and Philippe Cheng, Suzanne Slesin and Michael Steinberg, Diane Sabesin Tepper, and Almond Zigmund. Also in attendance were LongHouse Executive Director Matko Tomicic and Associate Curator Wendy Van Deusen.


Sheila Pepe, Barbara Toll, Alice Hope, Toni Ross, Kennedy Yanko (seated), and Brie Ruais
Arlene Slavin and Deborah Buck
Dennis Longwell, Alicia Longwell, and Philippe Cheng
Hala and James Saloman
Jonathan Marder, Deborah Buck, Suzie Slesin, and Michael Steinberg
Matko Tomicic and Sue Felsher
Owen Hughes, Kimberly Goff, and Rebecca Chapman
Rita Wasserman, Barbara Gerard, Minnie Friedfeld, and Beth Meredith
Sandy Perlbinder and Philippe Cheng
Steve and Sandy Perlbinder
Sue Felsher, Jack Lenor Larsen, Andy Buck, and Carmen Buck
Susan Kessler and Vicki Umans

The Cooper Hewitt recently kicked off its popular Design by Hand series, celebrating the importance of craftsmanship in contemporary design and generously sponsored by Van Cleef & Arpels. For this year’s installment, the Cooper Hewitt recognized renowned Dutch industrial design studio Scholten & Baijings, who led hands-on workshops, focusing on form, color, and materials at the Cooper Hewitt.

To commence this year’s programming, the Cooper Hewitt invited an intimate group of guests to preview the museum’s new installation, Scholten & Baijings: Lessons from the Studio, alongside Carole Baijings of Scholten & Baijings. It was followed by a reception and talk with Baijings.


Carole Baijings

The installation is now open to the public until March 2019. It delves into Scholten & Baijings’ singular design philosophy and working methods informed by their research into traditional craft practices and commitment to working by hand to develop new forms and materials.

“We are proud to continue our support of the Design by Hand series,” said Helen King, President & C.E.O of Van Cleef & Arpels, Americas. “Our collaboration is inspired by our common mission and passion for the sharing and preservation of craftsmanship and superb design.”

For further information regarding Design by Hand, visit Cooper Hewitt’s website at www.cooperhewitt.org or call (212) 849-8400.


Carole Baijings of Scholten & Baijings, Caroline Baumann of Cooper Hewitt, and Kristina Buckley Kayel of Van Cleef & Arpels
Elizabeth Ainslie and Ellen Niven
Carole Baijings, Cara McCarty of Cooper Hewitt, and Alexandra Cunningham Cameron of Cooper Hewitt
Carole Baijings, Caroline Baumann, Tara Kurobe of Van Cleef & Arpels, and Elizabeth Ainslie
Carole Baijings with museum supporters

Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) hosted the second annual HSS Golf Benefit supporting sports medicine research, on October 1, 2018 at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, NJ.

Through research, HSS sports medicine physician and surgeons are developing breakthrough technologies and techniques to customize treatments, optimize non-surgical intervention, and for those patients who require surgery, improve outcomes. Guests enjoyed a round of golf followed by a cocktail hour and dinner reception. The event was chaired by David W. Altchek, MD, chief emeritus of HSS Sports Medicine; John P. DiFiori, MD, FACSM, chief of HSS Primary Care Sports Medicine; Joshua S. Dines, MD, sports medicine surgeon at HSS; Brian C. Halpern, MD, chief emeritus of HSS Primary Care Sports Medicine; and Bryan T. Kelly, MD, chief of HSS Sports Medicine.

This year, Golf HSS raised $500,000.


Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, NJ
Guests enjoyed food and refreshments on the patio
L to R.: Jamie Osmak takes a swing at Golf HSS; Co-chair David Altchek, MD, goes over the rules of the shamble
Terry O’Toole, Thomas Lister, Paul Pellicci, MD, and David Altchek, MD. Mr. Lister is a co-chair of the Board of Trustees at HSS.
Patrick McHugh, Craig Ivey, Ivan Kimball, and Joe Oates
David Dines, MD, Paul Pellicci, MD, and David Altchek, MD
Emil Calcano, Stacey Malakoff, Louis A. Shapiro, and Joe Zajac
Co-chairs of Golf HSS: David Altchek, MD, Bryan Kelly, MD, Joshua Dines, MD, John DiFiori, MD, and Brian Halpern, MD
Thomas Lister, Terry O’Toole, and Todd Albert, MD
Todd Albert, MD, surgeon-in-chief at HSS, makes a few remarks during cocktail hour
Bryan Kelly, MD, John DiFiori, MD, and Todd Albert, MD
Louis A. Shapiro, president and CEO of HSS, addresses guests during dinner
Awards for Golf HSS
Brian Halpern, MD, co-chair of event, presents Rick Rieder, managing director, BlackRock, with an award
Brian Halpern, MD, co-chair of event, presents Joe Lavin, former Providence Bruins hockey player, with an award
The winning foursome receives their award

Photographs by Ralph Gabriner, Jessica Norman, & Rebecca Smeyne (Untermyer Gardens Conservancy); Richard Lewin (Longhouse); Terri Diamond Photography (HSS)

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