Swizz Beatz, TK Wonder, and Larry Ossei-Mensah Join 2019 Bronx Gala Program

The Bronx Museum of the Arts is pleased to announce that Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean, TK Wonder, and Larry Ossei-Mensah have been added to the program lineup for the 2019 Bronx Gala. The evening will be emceed by MOCAD senior curator and Bronx native Larry Ossei-Mensah, and will feature an intimate dinner, an art auction, and two special performances by musician and social activist TK Wonder, who has opened for Sting, Justice, and Erykah Badu, among others. The 2019 Bronx Gala will take place on Monday, April 8 at Capitale.

The 2019 Bronx Gala honors three visionaries who have touched countless lives through art, social justice and education. Kasseem "Swizz Beatz" Dean will present the Art for Justice Visionaries Award to Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman for their pioneering work through For Freedoms; Junko Kobayashi, President of the Stan Lee Foundation will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring her pioneering work championing Stan Lee's vision to provide equal education and access to literacy, education and the arts in underserved communities throughout the nation; and Joseph Mizzi, Chairperson of BxMA Board of Trustees will present the Visionaries Pathmaker Award to acclaimed art journalist, curator and playwright Carey Lovelace.

The annual benefit and auction supports the museum's free public programming and exhibitions, free admission, internationally recognized exhibitions, and educational programs that reach more than 16,000 Bronx youth every year. This is the museum's first gala under the leadership of Executive Director Deborah Cullen.

Following the dinner will be a live art auction led by Sara Friedlander (International Director, Head of Post War and Contemporary Art, Christies). The auction features artworks by over 50 contemporary artists including Sanford Biggers, Zoe Buckman, Allora & Calzadilla, Abigail DeVille, Rashid Johnson, Rochelle Feinstein, Teresita Fernández, Marilyn Minter, José Parlá, Katie Stout, Betty Tompkins, Nari Ward, among others.