Alec Baldwin and Hilaria Thomas to Chair Smithsonian Gala in Honor of First Exhibition on the Art of Yoga
The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, the Smithsonian’s museums of Asian art, have announced that actor and philanthropist Alec Baldwin and his wife, yoga and fitness professional Hilaria Thomas, will preside as chairs of “Some Enlightened Evening”—a gala event held Thursday, Oct. 17, in honor of the exhibition “Yoga: The Art of Transformation.”
“Yoga: The Art of Transformation” opens Oct. 19 at the Sackler Gallery and is the world’s first exhibition on the art of yoga. Temple sculptures, devotional icons and vibrant manuscripts—as well as early-modern photographs, books and films—will reveal yoga’s mysteries and profound meanings over 2,000 years.
“Some Enlightened Evening” will feature award-winning Indian music, fine cuisine, cocktails and an after-party “TranscenDance” hosted by the Silk Road Society, the galleries’ young professionals’ patrons circle.
Baldwin and Thomas will be chairing the Gala with Dame Jillian Sackler, D.B.E. H.E. Nirupama Rao, Ambassador of India to the U.S., and H.H. Gaj Singh, Maharaja of Jodhpur, are honorary patrons of the event and are joined by other luminaries from the worlds of yoga, art, politics and culture. For more information, visit http://asia.si.edu/events/galas.asp.
The museum is currently fundraising for “Yoga: The Art of Transformation” with the Smithsonian’s first major crowdfunding campaign, “Together We’re One,” and is seeking to raise $125,000 by July 1. All funds raised will go to ship the more than 130 artworks from around the world to Washington, D.C., offer yoga classes, host concerts, a symposium and a family festival, all free and open to the public.
The Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, located at 1050 Independence Avenue S.W., and the adjacent Freer Gallery of Art, located at 12th Street and Independence Avenue S.W., are on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every day (closed Dec. 25), and admission is free. The galleries are located near the Smithsonian Metrorail station on the Blue and Orange lines. For more information about the Freer and Sackler galleries and their exhibitions, programs and other events, the public may visit www.asia.si.edu. For general Smithsonian information, the public may call (202) 633-1000.
# # #
SI-244-2013
