Gala brings in $3 million gift for El Museo del Barrio

The gala itself raised $850,000 Thursday night at Cipriani, but a surprise announcement late in the evening increased the impact of the night significantly for this critically acclaimed museum on Museum Mile devoted to Latin and Caribbean art, set to mark its 40th anniversary next year.

The chairman of the museum, Tony Bechara, announced a $3 million gift by longtime museum supporters Joseph and Carmen Ana Unanue and their son Andy, formerly the scions of Goya Foods. The family received a standing ovation in response. The picture above shows Andy Unanue and the director of the museum, Julian Zugazagoitia.

[For a video of the announcement, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3lqL9523Co. For photos from the event, go to
http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/nysun/outandabout/20080523elm ]

From tiaras on many of the ladies -- in honor of the 15th gala, dubbed a "Quinceanero Ball" -- to the sparklers on the meringue-topped cakes, the event "ushered in a new era for the museum," its director, Julian Zugazagoitia, said.

Mr. Zugazagoitia was in part referring to the renovation underway at the museum, which will create a new facade and reconfigure exhibition space. The museum has a demolition party scheduled for Wednesday, when its first director, artist-educator Raphael Montanez Ortiz, who founded the museum to provide arts education opportunities primarily for Puerto Rican families in the neighborhood, puts an ax to a wall.