The multilayered fete paid homage to the museum’s storied Fisher Collection
Words by CATHERINE BIGELOW
Photography by DREW ALTIZER
Record-breaking numbers — and swoon-worthy art — were center stage on April 29 as 3,000 revelers celebrated at SFMOMA for the sold-out 10th anniversary Art Bash, which raised $4.2 million for the museum’s community and education initiatives.
This multilayered fete affords museum-wide access to connoisseurs of all stripes — ranging from $11,000 for a single patrons’ dinner ducat to just $95 for the late-night party, featuring live music sets by DJ Wonway, Ruby Ibarra, and Shannon & The Clams that echoed off the museum’s six-story-high oculus skylight turret.
A dinner-scape tableau was created by interdisciplinary artist Jeffrey Gibson, whose newly commissioned work debuts this June in Chicago at the new Obama Presidential Center. And 400 deep-pocketed donors were enveloped in Gibson’s dreamy setting punctuated by “chandeliers” of native plants bathed in shifting technicolor, abstract patterns he joyfully dubbed an “immersive nature disco.” Gibson was joined in his artful efforts by SFMOMA SECA Art Award winners Ruby C. Tut and Rose D’Amato, who also created artful gallery installations.
“Following last year’s Art Bash, Christopher (Bedford) invited us out to debrief over cocktails,” Rice said. “But as we left the restaurant, I looked at Gary and wondered, ‘Did we just sign up for two more years?’ If Chris invites you out for cocktails, be careful!”
Following a deluxe three-course dinner by McCalls Catering & Events, Sotheby’s auctioneer Phyllis Kao led a lively auction of 10-lots, which included paddle raises for works by KAWS ($280K for Still, 2025), Flora Yukhnovich ($300K for All Creatures Great and Small, 2026), and Rashid Johnson ($480K for Untitled Anxious Bruise Drawing, 2021).
Among the artful poobahs: SFMOMA Director Christopher Bedford, board president Alka Agrawal and chair Diana Nelson; Mayor Daniel Lurie with First Lady (and SFMOMA trustee) Becca Prowda; gallerists Jessica Silverman and Cheryl Haines; philanthropist Laurene Powell Jobs; industrial designer Yves Béhar and his wife, art advisor Sabrina Buell; SF Arts & Culture Executive Director Matthew Goudeau; Gap CEO Richard Dickson; artists Woody Othello and Chelsea Ryoko Wong; and Gap Creative Director Zac Posen (also an SFMOMA trustee), who alighted on a fog-hued carpet with Wonder Woman star Connie Nielsen, adorned in a custom GapStudio satin ensemble that highlighted the traditional stitching of Gap denim.
Art Bash cochairs Steven Rice and Gary Steele, dressed by event cosponsor Valentino, shared that they’re in their second year of corralling the event: “Following last year’s Art Bash, Christopher (Bedford) invited us out to debrief over cocktails,” Rice said. “But as we left the restaurant, I looked at Gary and wondered, ‘Did we just sign up for two more years?’ If Chris invites you out for cocktails, be careful!
Coda: Two weeks prior to Art Bash, SFMOMA unveiled a new examination of the storied Fisher family collection: Reimagined: The Fisher Collection at 10.
Sadly, three days after Art Bash, on May 2, Doris Fisher passed away. This pioneering cofounder of the San Francisco–based Gap fashion empire — named for the burgeoning 1969 generational gap between baby boomers and their parents — also gave rise to the Banana Republic, Old Navy, and Athleta brands.
Prior to her death at 94, Doris Fisher was one the first women to graduate from Stanford University in 1953 with a degree in economics, which informed her trenchant insights and lifelong generosity that funded numerous civic, educational, and philanthropic efforts. With her husband, Don Fisher (who died in 2009), this dynamic couple also amassed one the country’s largest (1,100 works by 185 artists) and most lauded private collections of modern and contemporary masterworks, for which they crafted a 100-year loan to SFMOMA — in addition to their $250 million endowment gift for the museum’s 2016 Snøhetta-designed museum expansion.
“This exhibition is about the past and the future,” said Bob Fisher, SFMOMA board chair emeritus, with his brothers Bill Fisher and John Fisher during the collection’s unveiling. “When the elevator doors to the gallery opened, I felt happy and sad at the same time. But viewing this reimagination of our family collection feels like a continuation of conversations with our parents.” 151 3rd St., S.F.; sfmoma.org.
Feature image: Decor for the Patron’s dinner at Art Bash was created by artist Jeffrey Gibson.
May 22, 2026
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