PHOTOS: Inside the Art Production Fund’s 2026 Après Ski-Inspired Gala

Huma Abedin, Nicky Hilton, Stacey Bendet, Jenny Mollen and Carolyn Tate Angel. Neil Rasmus/BFA.com

The Art Production Fund has thrown some memorable themed parties, but its 15th annual gala—an après-ski fantasia staged at the Seagram Building—may have been its most committed. Under cool blue lighting, fur-clad glitterati in trailing gowns and winter whites nabbed nibbles from servers in Moncler puffers, threw back Absolut Tabasco from a shotski and watched artist Amanda Ross-Ho (a former competitive figure skater) find her edge on the simulated ice in her durational work Untitled Figure (Reprise).

There was a line at Kelly Wall’s Wistful Thinking custom penny press for most of the cocktail hour, making it a prime spot for people watching. Among the more than 300 guests, Observer spotted former Clinton aide and author Huma Abedin, fashion CEO Stacey Bendet, society staple and designer Nicky Hilton, angel investor and influencer Hannah Bronfman, architect Kulapat Yantrasast, entrepreneurs Rachel Blumenthal and Neil Blumenthal, art collector Christine Mack, celebrity doctor Jake Deutsch and designers Cynthia Rowley, Sergio Hudson and Anna Sui. The artists on site included co-chairs Derrick Adams and Sanford Biggers, Mickalene Thomas, Will Cotton, Marilyn Minter, Michael Chuapoco and Ludovic Nkoth.

Upstairs at dinner, the assembled VIPs from media, fashion, finance, philanthropy and art found their way via place settings styled as ski passes to their tables, where they sat down to an alpine-inspired menu designed by author Sarah Hoover: fondue, truffle pizza and chicken schnitzel paired with lemon drop martinis and spiked hot chocolate kept the après-ski illusion alive. The Art Production Fund raised a record-breaking $1 million+ that night, thanks in part to a spirited paddle raise led by art advisor Gabriela Palmieri. From there, the night’s speakers capped off the speechifying with another round of ski shots before the fittingly themed DJ duo the Polar Bears took to the deck to spin classic anthems from the early aughts.

It was Aspen by way of Park Avenue until the clock struck midnight. Observer heard murmurs of an après-après party that may or may not have involved the influencer Tinx, gallerist Hannah Traore, writer Amanda Lee Burkett, illustrator Angelica Hicks, heiress Ivy Getty and author Chloe Wise, among others, but before we could confirm, the lights went up, and people were packing away their parkas.