Arsht Busts Carnegie Hall Glass Ceiling With Medal of Excellence

(Bloomberg) -- There was some justice Tuesday in New York’s philanthropic-social circles.

Adrienne Arsht became the first woman to receive Carnegie Hall’s Medal of Excellence, bestowed by its first black chairman, Robert Smith.

Loretta Lynch, the first black woman to serve as U.S. Attorney General, was honored by the New-York Historical Society in a rare appearance since she left the post in January.

And Agnes Gund received a standing ovation at MoMA PS1’s benefit for serving as its chairman and selling a prized Lichtenstein to start the Art for Justice Fund: A Movement to End Mass Incarceration. Others who’ve agreed to follow her donation include Third Point’s Dan Loeb, Centaurus Capital’s John Arnold and Smith, of Equity Vista Partners.

At the Historical Society’s Strawberry Festival Luncheon, Lynch got right down to it in her remarks, calling on guests to tackle tough issues by reaching out to people with different views.

"So how do we save Washington?" she said. "Hold on to ourselves, hold on to our voices, some of which have not been heard yet."

Lynch also talked about the museum’s new Center for Women’s History, in particular an exhibition exploring how First Lady Dolley Madison saved a portrait of George Washington before the White House burned in 1814.

"I will leave it to you whether it’s currently the portrait or the capital that’s in need of greater rescuing," Lynch said.

At the PS1 benefit, Gund’s applause came from a roomful of artists who make justice part of their work, and for which the MoMA affiliate in Long Island City has been a home. Hank Willis Thomas, in a video, talked about his project For Freedoms, the first artist-run super PAC that aims to use art to inspire deeper political engagement.

At the Carnegie Hall benefit, Smith said the storied concert venue reaches more than 500,000 people who would otherwise not have access to music education and performance, in programs taking place at correctional facilities, classrooms and hospitals across the U.S.

"While the building will always be our home, the Carnegie Hall of tomorrow will be as much about an idea as it is a place," Smith said.

Arsht, who 10 years ago sold Miami-based Total Bank to Spain’s Banco Popular, on this evening helped raise $2 million and joined a hitherto men’s only club of recipients of the Medal of Excellence, among them Kenneth Lewis (2006), Richard Fuld (2007) and Sandy Weill (2015).

But Arsht didn’t dwell on these men, except to note they hadn’t planned every detail of their Medal dinners as she had: The bamboo in the decor symbolized resilience, the performers reflected her passion for nurturing talent, and the mint-chocolate malt balls and green M&Ms on the tables indicated her sweet tooth, she said.

The program showed off Arsht’s simultaneously playful and serious nature. The desserts in Carnegie Hall’s patrons lounge first lured her to become a donor, she said. On her funding of the Atlantic Council’s Latin America Center: "An entire continent does not get the notice that I think it deserves."

Arsht’s philanthropy has put her name on many things -- a stage at Lincoln Center, an opthalmology lab, a Kennedy Center theater fund. She tries to keep that in perspective.

"My name is also on the wastebasket," she said, as a screen offered photographic proof at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County.

To contact the reporter on this story: Amanda Gordon in New York at agordon01@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Peter Eichenbaum at peichenbaum@bloomberg.net, Keith Campbell, Jon Menon