Dec. 19, 2019

Starry Night | An ARTrageous Gala

Upper left: AJ Odneal. Lower left: Desert Mountain High School dancers. Upper right: Gerd Wuestemann, Scottsdale Arts president and CEO. Lower right: Oscar De las salas and Billie Jo Herberger

Scottsdale Arts celebrated 20 years of Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art with a reimagined event—complete with a 300-foot red carpet. Guests at the Dec. 7 event arrived amidst the light of Squidsoup’s Murmuration installation at SMoCA and music by American Idol alumnus Von Smith.

The evening recognized luminaries who were instrumental in the Museum’s birth, culminating in the debut of the new Herberger Award for the Arts, which was presented to Dr. Robert Knight, SMoCA’s founding director.

Gala chair Oscar De las salas—alongside hosts Carey Peña of Inspired Media 360, Vanessa Ruiz of Cronkite News Borderlands and Javier Soto of Good Morning Arizona—kept the event moving for the 425 attendees, from a champagne toast and live auction to dinner inside Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and entertainment by local performers who have participated in programs facilitated by Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation.

The gala raised $300,000 for Scottsdale Arts, providing funds for programming under the largest arts umbrella in Arizona, including signature events like Canal Convergence and the Scottsdale Arts Festival, as well as the organization’s four branches: Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, SMoCA, Scottsdale Public Art and Scottsdale Arts Learning & Innovation.

PHOTOS BY HAUTE MEDIA AND BRUCE YEUNG, COURTESY SCOTTSDALE ARTS

Dr. Robert Knight, Will Bruder, Sam Campana, Kathy Hotchner, Stephanie Jacobson, Carolyn Robbins, Randy Schilling, Valerie Vadala Homer and Ellie Ziegler HAUTE EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY