New York - An Evening for AEF Leaders: Reflections on Artists, Legacy, & Philanthropy

Over 60 AEF leaders gathered on September 5, 2024, at Independent 20th Century art fair in NYC for a special program featuring a conversation with artist Adam Pendelton and Debra Cullen-Morrales, Program Officer for Arts & Culture, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The two reflected on the topic of artists, legacy, and philanthropy. In 2017, Pendleton and three fellow artists – Rashid Johnson, Ellen Gallagher, and Julie Mehretu – collectively purchased the vacant childhood home of famed Black musician and Civil Rights Activist Nina Simone in Tyron, N.C. The artists envisioned the purchase and preservation of the humble three-room house where she began learning to play the piano as a political act amid the Black Lives Matter movement and have since partnered with the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund to implement the Nina Simone Childhood Home Re-Use Project. www.savingplaces.org/places/ninasimone  

Spirits were high among the audience’s members, which included AEF leaders as well as graduates of AEFI’s Seminar on Strategy for AEF leaders. Adam and Deborah’s insightful and humorous conversation was followed by a networking reception held on the outdoor loggia of the fair’s stunning facility – the historic Battery Maritime Building/Cipriani South Street.

View more event photos here. All Photography by Leandro Justen.

View a video of the conversation here. Video by Weber Media LLC.

The evening was made possible by AEFI Event Sponsors:

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And AEFI’s Lead Underwriters: