SummerFest Raises $650,000 For SAC

Southampton Arts Center (SAC) hosted its annual benefit and culinary arts festival, SummerFest, on September 1. Honorees Helena and Rob Vahradian accepted the 2022 Champion of the Arts Award for their commitment to the arts of Southampton. Broadway star Jessica Vosk (Elphaba in “Wicked”) performed a medley of songs entertaining over 370 guests, with dinner and dancing into the morning hours. The event raised over $650,000.

SummerFest is SAC’s most critical fundraising initiative generating a third of the arts organization’s annual contributed income — allowing the continuation of year-round programming while serving as a critical economic driver of the community. Guests strolled through the galleries experiencing SAC’s current exhibition, “Figures Transformed,” curated by Christina Mossaides Strassfield, with artwork by Deborah Buck, Hal Buckner, and Strong-Cuevas, and enjoyed signature dishes created by the most celebrated East End restaurants. Serving as the backdrop for SummerFest, guests freely explored the historic grounds and galleries of SAC.

“We’ve now completed our 9th season at The Southampton Arts Center. Next year that’s double digits time,” said founding co-chair, Simone Levinson in her opening speech. “SummerFest originated as a way to have a great party to represent who we are and what we do. It is an opportunity to come together to celebrate our mission of building community through the arts. Each year, we’ve grown exponentially, and tonight we’re hosting 370 people here for dinner. We have an after dark party where we’re going to have over 200 young patrons spearheaded by Andrew Warren and his host committee.”

Following SummerFest was SAC’s first annual SummerFest After Dark party. Hosted by Alexander Hankin, Danielle Naftali, Makenzie Moon Phelan, and Andrew Warren, with event co-chairs Emira D’Spain, Julia Moshy, Noor Pahlavi, Julian Polak, Ryan Thomas Roth, and Harrison Vail. Grammy-nominated singer Kelis performed her iconic hit “Milkshake” and guests enjoyed their drinks, bites, and danced past 2 a.m. to music by DJ’s Zeke Thomas and Timo Weiland.

Southampton Arts Center is located at 25 Jobs Lane, Southampton. For more information about programming, visit southamptonartscenter.org or call 631-283-0967.