MCA DENVER

Denver

News: Not that there’s anything wrong with a hotel ballroom, mind you, but when selecting a venue for its annual Luminocity Gala, MCA Denver always picks something out of the ordinary.

Past editions of this popular fundraiser have been held at Denver’s Union Station, a roller derby practice space, and a historical warehouse, to name a few.

This year, the festivities were held on the 28th floor of 1900 Lawrence, a brand new, 30-story, 700,000-square-foot office tower designed for “high-reaching users” with amenities that include spaces with floor-to-ceiling glass offering sweeping views of the Front Range, Coors Field, and Skyline Park.

The views, it turns out, enhanced the party’s reputation for being the “Most Radiant Party of the Year,” with a dress code that encouraged guests to turn out in “Whatever moves you: Dress to let loose.”

The locale was also significant because it is across the street from Sakura Square, where MCA Denver had its first home in a renovated fish market.

For the two-hour social that preceded dinner, the 500 guests enjoyed cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and breathtaking views of the twinkling lights of the city below.

The pre-dinner festivities also included a continuous dance performance inspired by MCA Denver’s original exhibition, Movements Toward Freedom. Brendan Fernandes choreographed “Reverence, 2024,” which featured dancers Georgia Brinkman, Vanessa Childress, Sarah MacGregor, Jethro Paine, Erin Patterson, Philip Perez, and Montes Pirtle moving through the crowd as they made a succession of bows to each other and their audience.

Its ending, which also signaled the time for everyone to be seated for dinner, was the formation of a monument with their bodies.

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper and his wife, Robin, chaired Luminocity 2024 with Mardi and Brown Cannon. Mardi Cannon is an emeritus trustee of MCA Denver.

The evening also was the occasion to honor two of MCA Denver’s greatest supporters, Minyoung Sohn, founder and chief executive officer of Blue Room Investing and an emeritus trustee of the museum, and artist Eduardo Sarabia. Sarabia is a native of Los Angeles who divides his time between Denver and Guadalajara, had a solo exhibition at MCA Denver in 2013 and donated one of his paintings, Mensajes de Otros Mundos II, to the live auction called by Gary Corbett. It sold for $23,000.

“Because of them, we would not be where we are today,” noted Nora Abrams, the museum’s Mark G. Falcone director. Their service, she added, is especially appreciated because “We like to push boundaries, and it’s not always easy.”

Hickenlooper thanked Sarabia for representing MCA Denver on an international stage and praised Sohn for being one of “The most high-caliber people I have ever known. He’s one of the most real people you will ever meet.”

Hickenlooper also credited MCA Denver and the Luminocity Gala for being the vehicle that introduced him to his wife. “At this event in 2013 a certain woman caught my eye,” he recalled, adding that the former Robin Pringle and Nora Abrams were close friends, and so as Denver’s then-Mayor, he didn’t hesitate to ask for an introduction. The rest, as they say, is history.

Others helping to raise the “$800,00 and counting:”

• Denver Mayor Mike Johnston

• MCA Denver board chair Steve Cohen

• Katherine Gold, co-vice chair of the MCA board and president/CEO of Goldbug

• Andrew Feinstein, CEO and managing partner of EXDO Development, and wife Sarah McCarthy, executive director of the Global Livingston Institute

• Jamie Van Leeuwen, the founder and former CEO of the Global Livingston Institute

• Maggie and Mitch Morrissey. Her mother, the late Sue Cannon, founded MCA Denver; Mitch Morrissey is Denver’s former district attorney.

• Adam Lerner, MCA Denver’s former chief executive

About the organization: MCA Denver is dedicated to advancing the field of contemporary art and providing a platform for creative expression. It offers world-class exhibitions and quirky events, serious lectures and epic parties. “We are both sophisticated and unpretentious,” according to its website. MCA Denver was founded in 1996 and is located at 1485 Delgany St.

Website: mcadenver.org

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