2025 PHA artists celebration: fête of the fates

On October 9^th, PHA hosted the 2025 Artists Celebration, a Fête of the Fates – a predestined journey and one-of-a-kind movable feast through PHA’s vibrant fabrication shops and event spaces, culminating in the unforgettable performance of William Kentridge’s Sibyl.

The Artists Celebration is PHA’s annual benefit and most important fundraiser of the year to support and celebrate the power of creative expression. Guests were guided on a unique adventure, stepping behind the scenes to experience the magic of 3D-printed ceramics and appetizers served in the kilns room, screen-printed mole tortillas and tacos in the Printshop, and hands-on gilded wallpaper creation in Alpha Workshops, among other engaging encounters with our fabrication teams and collaborating artists. Finally, all guests were seated in the Grand Hall to experience William Kentridge’s New York City premiere of Sibyl, a moving chamber opera and film.

For inquiries on supporting future Artists Celebrations and PHA events, please contact Megan Skidmore, Development Director: development@powerhousearts.org | 516.253.4741.

2025 Artists Celebration Committee
Producer’s Council: Joan Rechnitz, Alliance Bernstein, East West Bank, Elizabeth Buckley Lewis, Agnes Gund, Laura Hanna, Michael Hurst, Cassie Rosenthal, Josh Rechnitz

Host Committee: Laurie Beckelman, David Binder, Hannah Gottlieb-Graham, Christopher Ho, Jeff Mui, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Goodman Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, Luxco

Artists Benefit Committee: Danny Baez, La Vaughn Belle, Lauren Cohen, Liz Collins, Teresita Fernández, Zipora Fried, Miles Greenberg, Jim Hodges, Nancy Lorenz, Cat Luo, John Morning, Tammy Nguyen, Jacob Olmedo, Benny Or, Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, Shamel Pitts, Victor “Marka27” Quinonez, Shay Salehi, Stephanie Santana, Jean Shin, Amy Sherald, Pacifico Silano, Ray Smith, Sophia Wallace, Zac Zimmerman

Supporting Sponsors:

About William Kentridge’s Sibyl
In Sibyl, William Kentridge offers a two-part production that confronts our desire to know the future—and the forces that obscure it. Sibyl earned Kentridge the 2023 Olivier Award for outstanding achievement in opera. Inspired by the ancient myth, Waiting for the Sibyl is a chamber opera featuring 10 performers immersed in Kentridge’s dynamic visual language: hand-painted backdrops, animated ink drawings, projected text, collage, and shadow play. The score by Nhlanhla Mahlangu and Kyle Shepherd layers South African vocal harmonies with rhythmic chant and piano. The evening opens with The Moment Has Gone, a film by Kentridge with live musical accompaniment featuring Shepherd’s original piano score and an all-male vocal chorus led by Mahlangu. 

William Kentridge’s Sibyl will be presented as part of Powerhouse: International, a new arts festival featuring artists from around the world converging at Powerhouse Arts to do what this moment demands: imagine what’s possible, provoke change, and spark collective joy. In a city built on bold expression and constant reinvention, artists and audiences move with each other’s stories, rhythms, and forms to begin something new. Learn more at powerhouseinternationalfestival.org.