The Barnes Foundation Announces the 2026 Art Ball

Benefit event celebrating Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America exhibition, featuring live music and DJs, and access to the exhibition and collection

Friday, October 16, 7 pm

Philadelphia, PA, September 30, 2026—The Barnes Foundation has announced its annual benefit, the Barnes Art Ball, taking place on Friday, October 16. The Art Ball brings together a dynamic group of collectors, connectors, and cultural tastemakers for an art-filled celebration of the creative spirit. Funds raised directly support the Barnes’s educational mission, exhibition program, and collection care and an array of artistic, community, and scholarly initiatives.

This year’s Art Ball celebrates Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America, the groundbreaking exhibition that reconsiders 20th-century art and design within the context of Japanese and Japanese American incarceration during World War II and the broader history of Asian America. Conceived and curated by Cindy Kang and featuring the work of Isamu Noguchi, George Nakashima, Leo Amino, S. Neil Fujita, Kay Sekimachi, and Ruth Asawa, the exhibition explores how Japanese American artists transformed the aesthetic landscape of postwar America and demonstrates that Asian American history is foundational to modern art and design.

“This year’s Art Ball is inspired by the stunning and thought-provoking Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America exhibition, which brings together the work of six Japanese American artists to examine their collective experiences and understudied impact on American design,” says Thom Collins, Neubauer Family Executive Director and President. “Our annual Art Ball is an excellent opportunity to celebrate with our dedicated community of supporters, whose generosity and enthusiastic participation ensure the success of the Barnes and our educational mission into the future.”

In addition to exclusive after-hours access to Noguchi to Asawa and the Barnes collection, this year’s Art Ball will be a free-flowing campus-wide event designed by Susan Norcross and The Styled Bride. The evening’s entertainment will spotlight Philadelphia talent and celebrate Asian American artistry with a nod to the preservation of traditional Asian practices through a contemporary American lens. Featured performers include community Japanese taiko drumming group KyoDaiko Drummers and DJ Yolo Ono (Marissa Le), a Philly-based DJ who plays a versatile arsenal of genres and club-influenced house music. DJ Musho (Truc Trinh) and Alexander B. Shaw with his nine-piece band will alternate performances on the West Terrace, which will be transformed into a Tokyo neon nightscape, and DJ Hong Kwon (Hong-Taek Kwon), a Philly-based DJ and record collector, will spin Japanese City Pop in the lower-level lounge.

Guests will enjoy deluxe food stations featuring Asian fusion delights from Constellation Culinary Group, wine from DAOU Vineyards, a sake/whiskey bar, and a Tokyo neon dance party on the West Terrace.

For more information about the 2026 Barnes Art Ball, please visit the website.

BARNES ART BALL LEADERSHIP
Trustee Chairs
John Aglialoro and Joan Carter
John Alchin and Hal Marryatt
Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz
Emily and Michael Cavanagh
Julia and David Fleischner
Margie and Jeffrey Honickman
Cathy Hughes
Sara M. Lomax
Lisa Kabnick and John McFadden
Leslie Miller and Richard Worley
Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer and Joseph Neubauer
Aileen and Brian Roberts

Honorary Co-Chairs
Judith Broudy
Betsy Z. and Edward E. Cohen
John and Gloria Drosdick
Val (Valerie V.) Gay
Anne and Matt Hamilton
Christine and George Henisee
Hilarie L. Morgan
Cathy Nassau
Megan Maguire O’Hara
Marsha and Jeffrey Perelman
Lyn M. Ross
Adele K. Schaeffer
Brenda and Larry Thompson
Robbi and Bruce Toll
Helene and Archbold van Beuren
Regina and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten
Dalila Wilson-Scott

Honorary Media Co-Chairs
Tamala M. Edwards
Johanna Fateman
Cherri Gregg
Nydia Han
Marni Manko
Breland Moore

Co-Chairs
ruby onyinyechi amanze
Christine and Michael Angelakis
Demi Angelakis
Julie Jensen Bryan
Karen Dougherty Buchholz
Robert J. Cody
Marianne N. Dean
Michelle and Eugene Dubay
Nina and Louis Eni
Katie Flaherty and Paul Landaiche
Alexandra Olsman Frankel and Zachary Frankel
Barb and Jack Hafner
Joseph Kotarski and Federico Mingozzi
Frances Savage and John Dowell

BARNES ART BALL DONORS AND SPONSORS

Benefactors
The Maguire Foundation
Jeanette Lerman-Neubauer and Joe Neubauer
Aileen and Brian Roberts

Underwriting Sponsors
John Aglialoro and Joan Carter
John Alchin and Hal Marryatt
Christine and Michael Angelakis
Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz
Betsy Z. and Edward E. Cohen
Marianne N. Dean
Dietz & Watson
Julia and David Fleischner
Mindy and Thad Fortin
Barb and Jack Hafner
Matheus Haserick-Lara and Lauren Zakarian-Cogswell
Lisa Kabnick and John McFadden

Event Sponsors
N. Judith Broudy
Elaine W. Camarda and A. Morris Williams, Jr.
Emily and Michael Cavanagh
CHANEL
Comcast NBCUniversal
Connelly Foundation
Michelle and Eugene Dubay
GRoW @ Annenberg Foundation
Anne and Matt Hamilton
Christine and George Henisee
Marjorie and Jeffrey Honickman
Independence Blue Cross
JPMorganChase
Justi Group Inc.
Joseph Kotarski and Federico Mingozzi
LAGOS
Leigh and John Middleton
Leslie Miller and Richard Worley
Hilarie and Mitchell Morgan
Marsha and Jeffrey Perelman
Jennifer Rice and Michael Forman
Lyn M. Ross
Adele K. Schaeffer
Katie and Tony Schaeffer
Brenda and Larry Thompson
van Beuren Charitable Foundation
Van Cleef & Arpels
Janine and Jeffrey Yass
Randi Zemsky and Bob Lane

Supporters
Marta and Robert Adelson
Dennis J. Alter
Brian Communication | Brian Tierney
Alex. Brown | A Division of Raymond James
Comcast Spectacor Foundation
Rebecca Craik and Mark Haskins
Roberta and Carl Dranoff
Nina and Louis Eni
Katie Flaherty and Paul Landaiche
Four Seasons Hotel Philadelphia at Comcast Center
Firstrust Bank
Glenmede
Liesl Henderson and Jordan Mersky
Highmark Blue Shield
Daniel and Joan Hilferty
Neal Krouse and Karl Fong
Montblanc
Anne and Bruce Robinson
Mark and Robin Rubenstein
Nancy and Ben Shein
Jed Silversmith–Montgomery County Scholarships
Josephine and Sam Switzenbaum
Robbi and Bruce Toll
Harriet and Laurence Weiss

Special Thanks for In-Kind Gifts
Constellation Culinary Group
DAOU Vineyards

The Barnes thanks Janus Films for granting access to the films shown in the lower lobby.

Listing as of September 15, 2026

EXHIBITION SPONSORS

Noguchi to Asawa: Designing Postwar America is sponsored by Comcast NBCUniversal, and Wyeth Foundation for American Art.

Major support is provided by Denise Littlefield Sobel and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation. Generous support is provided by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, The Henri and Tomoye Takahashi Charitable Foundation, and Lenore G. Tawney Foundation. Additional support is provided by Ilana Dean of the Beryl and Morris Dean Family Fund, Michael and Sandra Dean, Margaret C. Hallenbeck, Margaret Harris and Phil Straus, Barbara Podell and Mark Singer, and Stephanie Simmerman.

Ongoing funding for exhibitions comes from the Christine and Michael Angelakis Exhibition Fund, Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz Exhibition Fund, Lois and Julian Brodsky Exhibition Fund, Elaine W. Camarda and A. Morris Williams, Jr. Exhibition Fund, Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, Christine and George Henisee Exhibition Fund, Aileen and Brian Roberts Exhibition Fund, and Tom and Margaret Lehr Whitford Exhibition Fund.

The exhibition publication is supported by the Lois and Julian Brodsky Publications Fund and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art.

In addition, we thank annual contributors to the Barnes Foundation Exhibition Fund for supporting all exhibitions:

Joan Carter and John Aglialoro, Jill and Sheldon Bonovitz, Julia and David Fleischner, Victoria McNeil Le Vine, Leigh and John Middleton, Jeanette and Joe Neubauer, and Aileen and Brian Roberts.

John Alchin and Hal Marryatt, N. Judith Broudy, Julie Jensen Bryan, Emily and Michael Cavanagh, Marianne N. Dean, Eugene and Michelle Dubay, Adele Aron Greenspun, Penelope P. Harris, Jones & Wajahat Family, Lisa D. Kabnick and John H. McFadden, Victor F. Keen and Jeanne Ruddy, Marguerite Lenfest, Maribeth and Steven Lerner, Leslie Miller and Richard Worley Foundation, Hilarie and Mitchell Morgan, Cathy and Henry Nassau, The Park Family, Wendy and Mark Rayfield, Anne and Bruce Robinson, Adele K. Schaeffer, Katie and Tony Schaeffer, Donna and Jerry Slipakoff, Dr. and Mrs. Eugene E. Stark, Joan F. Thalheimer, Bruce and Robbi Toll, van Beuren Charitable Foundation, and Randi Zemsky and Bob Lane.

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FOR MORE INFORMATION
Deirdre Maher, Director of Communications
215.278.7160, press@barnesfoundation.org
Online press office: barnesfoundation.org/press