Purim Ball 2018 at The Pierre on February 26, 2018

New York, NY, February 26, 2018—The Jewish Museum’s 32nd Annual Purim Ball, held at The Pierre in Manhattan on Monday, February 26, 2018, honors Evan G. Greenberg, Chairman & CEO, Chubb, and artist Alex Israel.

The Museum’s annual fundraising gala gathers more than 1,000 distinguished members of New York’s corporate, social, and cultural communities for a festive dinner and lively after party in celebration of Purim. This year’s Purim Ball begins with cocktails at 6:30 pm, followed by dinner at 7:30 pm in the Grand Ballroom of The Pierre. The evening features producer, author, and advocate Nev Schulman as Master of Ceremonies. The After Party is from 9:00 pm to midnight, and features an open-bar and live DJs. Dress is festive attire and masks are encouraged.

This year’s Corporate Honoree is Evan G. Greenberg, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Chubb. Greenberg spearheaded ACE’s acquisition of Chubb in 2016 to create the world’s largest publicly traded property and casualty insurer. With operations in 54 countries, Chubb works to strengthen the many communities around the world where its employees live and work through volunteerism, grants, and other forms of support. Chubb focuses on vital global issues including education, poverty and health, and the environment. The Jewish Museum is proud to celebrate Evan Greenberg’s and Chubb’s commitment to philanthropy, which exemplifies the Jewish concept of tikkun olam, or “repairing our world."

Artist Alex Israel, whose work is in the Museum’s collection, is this year’s cultural honoree.  Deeply entwined in his hometown of Los Angeles, Israel explores how popular media, Hollywood, and the cult of celebrity are all central to Los Angeles, as well as an understanding of the American dream. The Jewish Museum recognizes Alex Israel for his outstanding and varied artistic achievements, including his recent lobby installation at the Museum, Self Portrait (Mom) (2016) from his ongoing Self-Portrait series, which was on view November 2016 through April 2017.

Inspired by iconic society balls, such as the fabled “Black and White Ball,” coupled with Purim traditions of donning masks and costumes with great merriment, David Stark Design and Production will create a contemporary celebration in the legendary ballrooms of The Pierre that is at once chic and stunningly surreal. Thousands of white balloons will blanket the ceiling of the Cotillion Room and guests will be greeted by a series of surreal characters and human tableaus.

Purim Ball 2018 Co-Chairs are Stephen A. Cozen, William E. Ford, and Scott C. Nuttall. Vice-Chairs include Shari and Jeff Aronson, Jonathan and Darcie Crystal, Mary Callahan Erdoes and Philip Erdoes, Wendy Fisher and Dennis Goodman, Dan Glaser, Betty and John Levin, Barbara and Ira Lipman, Beth and Joshua Nash, Nancy and Morris W. Offit, Tracey and Robert Pruzan, David Resnick and Catherine Klema, Susan and Stephen Scherr, John Shapiro and Shonni Silverberg, James and Jane Stern, Monica and Andrew Weinberg, Audrey and Zygi Wilf, Jane and Mark Wilf, and Susan and Benjamin Winter

The dinner is sold out, but After Party tickets are still available: $125 in advance and $150 at the door.

Masked Purim balls have been given for charitable purposes since the end of the fifteenth century. The holiday commemorates events that occurred during a period of Jewish history known as “the Babylonian exile,” in the 6th century BCE. Aided by her uncle Mordecai, the Persian king’s beautiful Jewish queen, Esther, thwarted a plot against the Jews devised by Haman, her husband’s chief minister. The Jews of Persia rejoiced at their deliverance and sent gifts to one another. Centuries later, these events are celebrated every year with parties, feasting, and the wearing of costumes and masks.

About the Honorees

Evan G. Greenberg is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Chubb. Over the course of more than 40 years in the insurance industry, Mr. Greenberg has held various underwriting and management positions and gained significant insight in the global property, casualty and life insurance sectors. Prior to ACE’s acquisition of Chubb in January 2016, Mr. Greenberg was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer ACE Group. He joined ACE in 2001 as Vice Chairman and was elected President and Chief Executive Officer in May 2004 and Chairman of the Board of Directors in May 2007.  Previously, Mr. Greenberg spent 25 years at American International Group, where he served as President and Chief Operating Officer from 1997 to 2000. Mr. Greenberg is Chair of the US-China Business Council, Vice Chair of the National Committee on United States-China Relations, Chairman Emeritus of the US-ASEAN Business Council, and serves on the board of the Council of the Americas. He serves on the Board of Trustees of Rockefeller University and the Board of Directors of the Peterson Institute for International Economics. Mr. Greenberg is a member of the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) Southeast Asia Advisory Board, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Atlantic Council’s International Advisory Board. He is also an overseer of the International Rescue Committee.

Alex Israel lives and works in Los Angeles, where he was born in 1982. He received a BA from Yale University where he studied sculpture (2003), and an MFA from the USC Roski School of Fine Arts (2010). Deeply entwined with his hometown, Mr. Israel’s work both explores and inhabits popular media, Hollywood, and the cult of celebrity, while positing Los Angeles as central to an understanding of American culture and the American dream. His work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Le Consortium, Dijon, France; The Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas; The Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, San Marino, California; and the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo, Norway. In 2016 at the Jewish Museum, the artist’s Self-Portrait (Mom) hung in the lobby as part of the exhibition series Using Walls, Floors and Ceilings. Mr. Israel’s work is included in numerous museum collections worldwide including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, California; The Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, Texas; The Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Moderna Museet, Stockholm, Sweden; Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; Musée des Beaux-Arts, Montreal, Canada; and the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. The artist’s first feature-length film, SPF-18, is now available on iTunes and Netflix.

About the Master of Ceremonies

Born and raised in New York City, Yaniv “Nev” Schulman is a producer, author, advocate and nice Jewish boy. As creator and host of Catfish: The TV Show, he’s traveled the United States extensively and come face-to-face with many of the struggles affecting young Americans today. As a result, he’s become engaged with the mental health community and leveraged his platform through the media company ATTN: to reach hundreds of millions of people worldwide across a variety of issues including gender identity, bullying and equal rights.