SFMOMA Transforms Into a Fantastical Forest for Art Bash 2025

The annual gala raised the fashion factor and $3.7 million for the museum’s education and community programs

Words by CATHERINE BIGELOW

In designing a fantastical Art Bash dinner-scape — a lush forest video projection pulsating with pink florals and the chirp of cicadas that accented tables crowned by hanging plants — on the seventh floor gallery of SFMOMA, New York artist Firelei Báez hoped supporters would dress as forest creatures or woodland sprites for this colorful fundraising fete.

“This feels like being in the creative mind of Firelei,” said Art Bash committee member Angela Crabill. “I’m just waiting for a whiff of the greenery.” That “green” did arrive — in the form of big bucks: supporters raised a whopping $3.7 million to benefit SFMOMA arts education, community engagement, and family programming.

Although we never spotted a woodland creature, exuberant fashion options were in abundance, from black-tie attire and blue jeans to metallic wigs and drag queens. And with Valentino serving as the official Art Bash fashion partner, high-wattage ensembles were out in force.

Also in the house: designer Zac Posen, executive vice president and creative director of GAP Inc., with his glamorous guest, Ayesha Curry — restaurateur, cookbook author, lifestyle guru, and spouse of Golden State Warriors star Steph Curry. Draped in a custom gold gown cinched at the waist with a gold-coated denim corset, Curry gamely accessorized with cowboy boots. Created by the designer, the shimmering dress is from the new GapStudio by Zac Posen Collection that debuted in April. “Ayesha is our golden girl,” said Posen, who was recently named an SFMOMA trustee.

“Being appointed to the board is a huge honor: arts and education are instrumental to our future. As the son of a working artist, the experience of art in everyday life is in my blood,” said Posen, who interned at the Met Museum Costume Institute as a teen. “I’m very excited about bringing new audiences and energy to SFMOMA.”

This joyful, multisensory soirée — offering a range of high-low access via multitiered price points — enticed 2,750 guests to revel in an array of artistic installations and enchantments that cascaded through each gallery floor of SFMOMA.

For deep-pocketed donors, Báez’s magical forest set the scene for an elegant three-course McCalls Catering & Events dinner and live auction (including works by Ruth Asawa, Amy Sherald, and Nicolas Party) led by Sotheby’s Phyllis Kao.

Among the artful poobahs: SFMOMA Director Christopher Bedford and board president Diana Nelson; Randi Fisher; Art Bash cochairs Steven Rice and Gary Steele; Mayor Daniel Lurie with his wife, SFMOMA trustee Becca Prowda, and mother, arts patron, and SFMOMA board vice chairman Mimi Haas; philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs; 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey; former Apple designer Jony Ive and his wife, Heather; GAP CEO Richard Dickson; Valentino America’s CEO Daniel Paltridge; artist Woody De Othello; and storied gallerists Iwan Wirth and Manuela Hauser.

Later, multiple bars and bountiful buffets, gallery tours, and the opening of a photography exhibition by Kunié Sugiura, competed for attention with art activations. Masako Miki transformed the museum’s White Box into a lounge anchored by an enormous banquet table in the shape of a two-headed fox. Jeffrey Sincich, a trained sign painter turned fine artist, reimagined the museum’s coffee shop as a late-night corner store — but jazzed up with a decadent s’mores dessert topped with espresso shots.

The museum’s main lobby was jammed as guests grooved to sets by DJ Shortkut, DJ Lady Ryan, and comedian-rapper Zack Fox. On the rooftop garden, the party really popped as Legendary Ryan “Christopher” Milan, a Bay Area LGBTQ ballroom host, convened a fierce competition of creative expression and runway vogueing until the clock struck 1 a.m.

“This is the most beautiful Art Bash I’ve ever experienced: Firelei’s room is spectacular and everyone will experience what it’s like to be immersed in art,” said SFMOMA Board Chairman Bob Fisher. “The museum, as a whole, has opened up, expanding our mission to speak to people in every walk of life — whether they’re young and in technology or interested in art history and retired, or schoolchildren. Art Bash allows SFMOMA to appeal across the spectrum. You can’t walk in here and not feel a sense of awe.”