Gala Raises $380K For Hyde Park Art Center, Honors 3

CHICAGO, IL – An event honoring three vital members of the Chicago arts community also raised thousands for the Hyde Park Art Center. About 500 guests came to the center at 5020 S. Cornell in Hyde Park to honor Shirley and Walter Massey and Anne Wilson on Oct. 14. The event raised $380,000 to help the non-profit art center stay free and open to the public.

“We are honored to be celebrating Shirley and Walter Massey and Anne Wilson as leaders who embody the values of Hyde Park Art Center,” Deputy Director of the Art Center, Hilesh Patel said. “They are pillars of art and education in Chicago, modeling support and thinking that drives not just us and many other organizations, but also the art community in Chicago. The impressive support raised ensures that the Art Center can continue to be bold and impactful in its programming.”

Among the programs the event helped support is the Community Supported Arts School, the city's first open-access arts school and an arts-learning model in which learners of all ages and backgrounds can develop their creative skills and voices according to a news release.

Wilson and the Masseys are esteemed leaders of the Chicago arts community; arts, civic, and business community.

The October gala was organized by two co-chair families, Sundeep Mullangi and Trissa Babrowski and Monica and Bill Hughson. It kicked off with a lively cocktail hour with beverages provided by local breweries. Guests bid on silent auctions items, explored artists’ studios and entered to win an art collection of works on paper by more than 50 Chicago artists.

Photo: Co-Chair Sundeep Mullangi, Co-Chair Trissa Babrowski, Honoree Anne Wilson, Honoree Walter Massey, Honoree Shirley Masse, Co-Chair Bill Hughson, Co-Chair Monica Hughson, Deputy Director Hilesh Patel. Photo courtesy of the Hyde Park Art Center