On October 29, the American Academy in Rome gathered friends, Fellows, Residents, and supporters at the New York Public Library’s Stephen A. Schwarzman Building for its 2026 New York Gala. The annual occasion brings the Academy community together in recognition and support of the essential role of the arts and humanities in our societies today.
This year’s Gala honored Suzanne Deal Booth—art historian, historic preservationist, and philanthropist; Fred Wilson (2020 Resident)—visual artist and Trustee Emeritus of the Academy; and Emily Wilson (2006 Fellow)—classicist, translator, and author. The honorees were introduced, respectively, by Kevin Keim, founding director of the Charles Moore Foundation; Mary Frank, Trustee Emerita and art historian specializing in Renaissance Venice; and Charles Brian Rose, (1992 Fellow and 2012 Resident) Trustee Emeritus, and Professor of Archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania.
The gala was co-chaired for the third time by Marilynn Davis and Mary Margaret Jones (1998 Fellow, 2020 and 2023 Resident), with Cary J. Davis serving as honorary chair. Board of Trustees Chair Calvin Tsao (2010 Resident) and President and CEO Dr. Peter N. Miller opened the evening with remarks underscoring the Academy’s distinctive mission: bringing artists and scholars together in a dynamic international community where interdisciplinary exchange inspires new ideas.
Echoing the spirit of curiosity and discovery that thrives at the Academy, the Gala’s celestial theme took inspiration from Galileo Galilei’s depiction of the Pleiades star cluster in Sidereus Nuncius (1610), his groundbreaking account of the first telescopic observations of the night sky. Rob Giampietro, 2015 Fellow in Design, brought the theme to life in the Gala materials through bold, festive visuals in deep blues and grays illuminated by brilliant stars. Inside Bartos Forum, projections of the night sky transformed the glass-domed ceiling.
The evening was filled with lively conversation and a warm sense of community, bringing together Rome Prize Fellows and Residents from across generations, including members of the most recent 2025–2026 cohort and past Centennial Medal Laureates such as artist Julie Mehretu (2020 Resident) and architect Billie Tsien (2000 Resident). Among the distinguished guests were Giuseppe Pastorelli, Consul General of Italy in New York, and Mona Talbott, co-founder of the Rome Sustainable Food Project at the Academy.
At the heart of the New York Gala is the Centennial Medal Ceremony, honoring leaders whose work has made a lasting impact on the arts and humanities around the world. Designed for the Academy in 1994 by Roy Lichtenstein (1989 Resident), the Centennial Medal features Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings, whose gaze both forward and backward makes him a fitting symbol for an institution dedicated to studying the past while creating for the future.
Through their moving remarks, the three Centennial Medal Honorees warmly recalled their time in Rome, reflecting on the experiences, lasting connections, and enduring sense of common purpose that continue to shape their work and unite the Academy’s community.
Recognized for her extraordinary dedication to the conservation of visual arts and cultural heritage globally, Suzanne Deal Booth described preservation as a responsibility to protect cultural heritage and pass it on to future generations, understood and alive. Emphasizing that patronage creates the conditions for artists and scholars to do their most ambitious work, she celebrated the spirit of collaboration and commitment to artistic freedom and scholarly inquiry that sustains the American Academy in Rome.
Fred Wilson (2020 Resident) reflected on the Academy’s unique environment, where artists and scholars have the freedom to immerse themselves in their work while drawing inspiration from the Eternal City. Sharing personal memories of his time in Rome, he spoke of the value of interdisciplinary exchange and the lasting bonds forged among the Fellows and Residents.
Emily Wilson (2006 Fellow) also celebrated the Academy’s commitment to dialogue across disciplines, cultures, and generations, reflecting on how her fellowship year transformed her approach to translation. “Through the rich dialogue across scholarly and creative communities at the Academy, I came to understand how translation can serve as a bridge, activating both scholarly and creative impulses.” She concluded her remarks by treating the audience to a reading of John Keats’s On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer, a sonnet capturing the exhilaration of encountering ancient literature through translation.
From the honorees’ remarkable achievements and reflections to the palpable energy in the room, the 2026 New York Gala was a testament to the strength of the connections forged across disciplines and generations at the Academy, and to the power of art and scholarship to illuminate the most pressing questions of our time. The Academy extends its gratitude to the gala co-chairs, honorary chair, and to the many supporters whose generosity makes it possible for artists and scholars to pursue transformative work in the Eternal City.