Studio 42 launched the Starving Artists Ball in 2002 as a fundraiser and a multi-disciplinary exhibition and celebration of the emerging artist. The Ball has since been held annually at prestigious venues such as The Culture Project, the Metropolitan Pavilion and the Angel Orensanz Foundation, and is consistently attended by hundreds of New York City’s up-and-coming artists, as well as many established philanthropic arts supporters. In 2008, Studio 42 began the tradition of the Starving Artists Halloween Ball in late October, at Judson Memorial Church on Washington Square, to unanimous and rapturous acclaim.
Keynote speakers at past Starving Artists Ball events include Charles Busch (author and star of the films Psycho Beach Party and Die Mommie, Die!), Lewis Black (The Daily Show), Emmy Award-winner Michael Imperioli (The Sopranos, The Lovely Bones), and Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner John Patrick Shanley (Doubt). Proceeds from the Ball have benefited The Starving Artist Award, a cash grant of up to $7,500 that is designated to a New York City-based artist of exceptional merit, the original design of which was donated to Studio 42 by Jonathan Adler.
Special guests at the Ball have included such notables as Richard Kind (A Serious Man, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Jonathan Ames (author of the novels What’s Not to Love? and Wake Up, Sir!), Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard, Dodgeball, Ed), Sam Rockwell (The Green Mile, Charlie’s Angels), Frederick Weller (The Shape of Things, In Plain Sight), Avenue Q creators Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez, the Public Theater’s Gail Papp and the cast of Spring Awakening including Weeds’ Hunter Parrish.
The Ball has traditionally featured dancing, light fare and an open bar; keynote addresses, entertainment, and special guest DJ; an extensive raffle of tremendous prizes; a curated, multidisciplinary art exhibition of work by emerging artists; and the presentation of the Starving Artist Award.
The 2008 Halloween Ball included a VIP corporate pre-party with special guests from Deloitte and Touche, music by DJ Brian Pennington, string quartet Cello, Brazilian Jazz sensation Conjunto Suor, headliners Black Taxi, and aerial entertainment by The New York Circus Arts Academy.