Julianne Moore, Frances McDormand, and Others Celebrated 50 Years of the Dia Art Foundation

Dia Beacon has become synonymous with the upstate New York art scene. Travelers from around the world make their way to Dia Beacon to contemplate artwork by Louise Bourgeois, Richard Serra, Donald Judd, Dan Flavin, and more. Zoom out from Beacon, and the art aesthete can visit Dia’s site-specific installations throughout North America and Germany. To honor 50 years of the Dia Art Foundation, Dia Beacon hosted a fabulous benefit luncheon in partnership with Bottega Veneta.

The Dia Beacon Spring Benefit celebrated new displays by artists Felix Gonzalez-Torres, Maren Hassinger, Mary Heilmann, Rita McBride, Steve McQueen, and Meg Webster. Lucky attendees wandered the closed museum to view new exhibits before the public, including Steve McQueen’s site-responsive subterranean environment. Guests congregated around Meg Webster’s natural sculptures, captured photos with Andy Warhol’s colorful canvases, and sipped mimosas among Gerhard Richter’s mirror art.

Friends of Dia traveled upstate for the occasion, including Frances McDormand, Julianne Moore, Lauren Santo Domingo, Thelma Golden, Kate Young, and Derek Blasberg. Wearing head-to-toe Bottega Veneta, Julianne Moore told Vogue, “I always feel great wearing Bottega Veneta. I think it’s incredibly chic and easy to wear, and what Matthieu Blazy is doing is amazing. There is something so modern about it, and I feel like myself in the clothing.”

Many artists also joined the celebration, including Jeffrey Gibson, Adam Pendleton, and Marilyn Minter. Rita McBride, who is currently showing artwork at Dia Beacon, coordinated an interactive performance called “Arena Momentum” at the luncheon in which experimental dancers climbed, circumnavigated, and moved in dialogue with tall wooden seating structures. McBride is planning more site-specific performances at Dia Beacon later this year. “It’s an honor to show my work at Dia Beacon. I can’t think of a better place for my work,” she told Vogue.

Luncheon guests were dressed sharply for spring, wearing graphic patterned suits, ombré print overcoats, and woven leather Bottega Veneta bags. They accessorized with notably fashionable shoes, such as leather brogues, furry sandals, heeled ballet slippers, and leather slip-ons. Dia Art foundation director Jessica Morgan, who graciously welcomed all luncheon attendees into the museum, wore a particularly chic black leather Bottega Veneta dress.

The seated benefit luncheon, set in a light-washed gallery adjacent to Senga Nengudi and Robert Irwin exhibitions, featured countless long tables laden in delightful white poppies. A composition of gallerists, artists, curators, and patrons dined family style, then were surprised with to-go boxes at the dessert course to enjoy a emporter tarts and truffles around the museum. The soirée hit all the marks in Dia’s own signature vernacular.