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<\/p>\nGray skies didn\u2019t prevent L.A.\u2019s arts community from getting fancy in support of the Hammer Museum\u2019s annual Gala in the Garden. Adorned in fur coats, colorful sunglasses and patterned ties, artists and celebrities including Owen Wilson, Rufus Wainwright, Lauren Halsey and Catherine Opie joined to celebrate gala honorees Betye Saar and television writer and producer Darren Star. <\/p>\n
The event highlighted how the Westwood-based museum inspires creatives and harnesses community for the city\u2019s artists. Under pink and yellow lights, guests enjoyed cocktails while admiring the museum\u2019s galleries. Guests, including Los Angles County Museum of Art Director and Chief Executive Michael Govan and the Hammer\u2019s Director Emerita Ann Philbin, reunited with old friends and colleagues, making the event feel like a family affair. <\/p>\n
All were unified in their admiration of the night\u2019s guests of honor.<\/p>\n
At 99, Saar is among L.A.\u2019s most esteemed and accomplished living artists. Her career has spanned more than seven decades, with an early focus on rejecting white feminism and reclaiming the Black female body. Civil rights activist Angela Davis traced the start of the Black women\u2019s movement to the creation of Saar\u2019s 1972 assemblage piece, \u201cThe Liberation of Aunt Jemima.\u201d <\/p>\n
During onstage comments at the gala, Getty Research Institute presidential scholar Sandra Jackson-Dumont discussed the massive impact Saar has had on the art world. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt measures in the artist who found their voice because you insisted that your voice mattered. It\u2019s in the institutions that shifted because you demanded that they see us,\u201d Jackson-Dumont said while introducing Saar to the stage. \u201cYou take what the world cast aside and breathe spirit into it, insisting that the overlooked can speak, that the discarded can testify, that the everyday can dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ann Philbin, from left, director emerita, Hammer Museum, Kohshin Finley and Lauren Halsey attend the Hammer Museum\u2019s 2026 Gala in the Garden.<\/p>\n
(Stefanie Keenan \/ Getty Images for Hammer Museum)<\/p>\n
The event also served as an early celebration for Saar\u2019s 100th birthday in July, with Jackson-Dumont calling her birthday \u201c100 years of vision. 100 years of courage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201c[It\u2019s] not 100 years of working, of making art, but 100 years of living with eyes wide open, heart attuned, spirit unbound, we stand in awe,\u201d Jackson-Dumont said. <\/p>\n
Saar took to the stage amid a resounding standing ovation, and when she spoke, the crowd\u2019s gaze remained intently on her. While Saar kept her remarks short, she talked about the importance of art in everyday life. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo many people do not realize how important art is, how it affects everything we do. Even bad things, because you can take art and make it good,\u201d Saar said. \u201cI want to thank you for coming to this event because by you being here, it encourages a lot of other people who are not here to love art and to use art and to know how important art is in this foreign life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Netflix co-Chief Executive Ted Sarandos introduced Star, who created groundbreaking series including \u201cBeverly Hills, 90210,\u201d \u201cSex and the City,\u201d \u201cYounger\u201d and \u201cEmily in Paris,\u201d which defined pop culture references for generations of television viewers.<\/p>\n
Sarandos called it a \u201cprivilege\u201d to work with Star, explaining that his work has an \u201cenduring staying power\u201d and that \u201cthere has never been a storyline that is too bats\u2014 crazy for Darren.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDarren is simply one of the most talented showrunners of his generation, with his finger on the pulse of pop culture for more than three decades,\u201d Sarandos said. \u201cHe influences the clothes we wear, the way we cut our hair, the music we listen to and the dreams we dream.\u201d<\/p>\n
Star, who has long served on the Hammer\u2019s board of directors, celebrated his honor by explaining what he loves about the museum, including its Alice Waters\u2019 restaurant Lulu, and the environment the space provides for Los Angeles creatives. <\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
The view from above the courtyard at the Hammer Museum\u2019s 2026 Gala in the Garden, which honored artist Beye Saar and television writer and producer Darren Star.<\/p>\n
(Charley Gallay \/ Getty Images for Hammer Museum)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Hammer creates a wonderful community. We come together because we all love art, love Los Angeles and love this museum,\u201d Star said. \u201cI\u2019m grateful to be part of this family and the city\u2019s extraordinary artistic life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The gala was the second under the leadership of Hammer Museum Director Zo\u00eb Ryan, who succeeded longtime director Ann Philbin in January 2025. Former Los Angeles City Council President Joel Wachs called Ryan a \u201ctrue scholar, open-minded, unflappable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe she is exactly the kind of strong leader this institution needs in these really difficult, complicated and turbulent times,\u201d Wachs said during his opening remarks. \u201cAnd if anyone can be counted upon, I believe it\u2019s her that will vigorously defend against the grave dangers and vicious attacks on freedom of expression that both museums and universities currently face.\u201d<\/p>\n
During her speech Ryan said the Hammer is \u201ccherished\u201d by the Los Angeles community, and that she intends to keep providing a space for creatives in the city. <\/p>\n
\u201cAt the heart of the Hammer is a deep commitment to giving space to artists, bold and experimental ideas, and supporting audiences as a catalyst for change through dialogue and exchange \u2014 all much needed in this country right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Gray skies didn\u2019t prevent L.A.\u2019s arts community from getting fancy in support of the Hammer Museum\u2019s annual Gala…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298309,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[126397,126394,12837,87616,126396,1043,94825,4080,8410,48,52,51,47,50,49,63,126393,1744,2850,126395,72],"class_list":["post-298308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-annual-gala","tag-art-community","tag-artist","tag-betye-saar","tag-darren-star","tag-event","tag-family-affair","tag-guest","tag-hammer","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-los-angeles-times","tag-saar","tag-space","tag-star","tag-westwood-based-museum","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298308"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298308\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}