The American Federation of Arts (AFA), the leader in traveling exhibitions worldwide since its founding in 1909, announces the 2025 honorees for the Gala and Cultural Leadership Awards: Christian Levett ‒ art collector and philanthropist; Howardena Pindell ‒ pioneering artist and educator; and Ann Temkin ‒ Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art. The event will once again gather 350 leaders in art and culture to celebrate the honorees’ outstanding contributions to the arts, November 10 (6:30-11:00 p.m.) in New York City at Guastavino’s. The Cultural Leadership Awards and Gala directly benefit the AFA’s Women in Art Initiative, which advances exhibitions and programs that elevate women artists. Proceeds will also support the AFA’s nationally touring exhibitions and public programs that reach millions of museumgoers across the country.
To purchase tickets, the public may visit this link. The marquee annual event brings together the country’s leading artists, museum directors, collectors, philanthropists, and art professionals at an elegant gala to celebrate the American Federation of Arts’ heritage and the event’s honorees. For more than a century, the AFA has brought world-class exhibitions to communities everywhere, ensuring that art is not only something people travel to see ‒ art travels to the people. With over 3,500 fine art exhibitions organized worldwide, the AFA partners with museums of all sizes, expanding access to meaningful cultural experiences. The AFA’s touring exhibitions have been viewed by millions of people in museums in every U.S. state, and in Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
“At the American Federation of Arts, our mission is to share all art to communities for broader access, including the works of underrepresented voices. It is especially meaningful that the Gala and Cultural Leadership Awards, the AFA’s signature event, pays homage to this mission by honoring Christian Levett, Howardena
Pindell, and Ann Temkin – three distinguished voices whose collecting, advocacy, and curatorial vision are instrumental in elevating women artists on the global stage. I look forward to celebrating their achievements and the pivotal role they have played in shaping a more equitable world,” says Pauline Forlenza, the Director and CEO of the AFA. Under Forlenza’s leadership since 2012, the AFA’s exhibition program has grown immensely, now with close to twenty exhibitions currently in development during the new season of touring museum shows. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to enriching the public’s experience and understanding of the visual arts through organizing and touring art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishing exhibition catalogues featuring important scholarly research, and developing educational programs.
Announcing the 2025 Honorees
Christian Levett is a British art collector, philanthropist, and founder of the Mougins Museum of Classical Art in France, which he established in 2011. His collection spans antiquities, modern, and contemporary art, with a particular focus on women artists. In 2021, he transformed his museum to highlight work by female painters and sculptors, building one of the most significant private holdings of women’s art in Europe. Levett is also an active supporter of institutions including the Ashmolean, the Courtauld, and the Fitzwilliam Museum, and funds initiatives to broaden representation in the arts.
Howardena Pindell is a pioneering artist, educator, and advocate whose work spans painting, collage, film, and installation. She is the last living artist among the nationally acclaimed artists in Abstract Expressionists: The Women,
the AFA’s new touring exhibition. A trailblazer in addressing issues of race, gender, and equity in contemporary art, she is celebrated for both her abstract, process-driven canvases and her powerful political works. Pindell was a curator at MoMA for over a decade before joining the faculty at Stony Brook University, where she is Professor of Art. Her work has been presented in major solo exhibitions at the Shed, MCA Chicago, and the Hirshhorn, and is held in the permanent collections of leading museums worldwide.
Ann Temkin has served as Chief Curator of Painting and Sculpture at The Museum of Modern Art since 2008.
She has reimagined its galleries with dynamic rotations and broadening acquisitions to include women artists, artists of African descent, and voices beyond Europe and North America. She has curated landmark exhibitions such as Matisse: The Red Studio (2022), Judd (2020), and Picasso Sculpture (2015), and co-edited Inventing the Modern: Untold Stories of the Women Who Shaped MoMA (2024). Previously Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, she is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and holds degrees from Harvard and Yale.
Each honoree will be invited to speak at the event.
Past recipients of the AFA Cultural Leadership Awards include:
Derrick Adams (2024), Beth Rudin DeWoody (2024),
Judy Glickman Lauder (2023), Eli & Edythe Broad (2018),
Alice Walton (2016), Wangechi Mutu (2016), Kehinde Wiley (2013), Rosa & Carlos de la Cruz (2015), and Marina Abramović (2011), among others.
The AFA would like to thank the 2025 Co-Chairs: Elizabeth Belfer, Emily Bingham & Stephen Reily, Monique Schoen Warshaw, Kimerly Rorschach & John Hart, Alice Walton, and Martha MacMillan.
2025 Host Committee:
Sarah Arison, Betsy Shack Barbanell, Laura Bardier, Berry Campbell Gallery, Jonathan P. Binstock, Ph.D,
Janis Gardner Cecil, Tina Davis & James S. Snyder, Leslie & Tom L. Freudenheim, Fort Gansevoort, Vida Foubister,
Lee White Galvis, Ellen Grimes, Agnes Gund, Anthony Hirschel, Elizabeth Kahane, Barbara & Richard S. Lane,
Mary Lapides, Bernard Lumpkin, Clare E. McKeon, Wangechi Mutu, Alexis Rockman, Tyler Rollins, Capera Ryan,
Betsy Pinover Schiff, Tschabalala Self, Angelica Semmelbauer, Belinda Tate, Ian Taylor, Joyce Tsai,
Sandra & Stanford Warshawsky, George Wells, and Allison Whiting.
The AFA is honored to collaborate with a network of more than 100 distinguished museum partners, including:
Northeast: The Metropolitan Museum of Art (NYC), Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Jewish Museum (NYC).
South: High Museum of Art (Atlanta), Dallas Museum of Art, Gibbes Museum of Art (Charleston), and the
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (Richmond). Midwest: Art Institute of Chicago, Cleveland Museum of Art,
Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City), and Wichita Art Museum. West: Los Angeles County Museum of Art,
Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, and Seattle Art Museum. International: Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (U.K.), Musée du Louvre (Paris), The British Museum (London), and Vancouver Art Gallery (Canada).
About the American Federation of Arts
The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is the leader in traveling exhibitions in the U.S. and worldwide. One of the first to successfully tour art exhibitions on a national and international level, the organization unites American art institutions, collectors, artists, and museums.
The AFA has toured more than 3,500 exhibitions that have been viewed by millions of people in museums in every U.S. state, and in Canada, Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.
A nonprofit organization founded in 1909, AFA is dedicated to enriching the public’s experience and understanding of the visual arts through organizing and touring art exhibitions for presentation in museums around the world, publishing exhibition catalogues featuring important scholarly research, and developing educational programs.
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