The 2026 PS21 Gala

$500: Wild Thyme

• 1 balcony seating ticket to the Gala including cocktails, dinner, performances, a live auction, dessert, and afterparty
• Limited quantity available
• $300 is tax-deductible

$1,250: Dandelion

• 1 floor seating ticket to the Gala including cocktails, dinner, performances, a live auction, dessert, and afterparty
• $1,000 is tax-deductible

$1,500: Ramp

• 1 VIP preferred seating ticket to the Gala including cocktails, dinner, performances, a live auction, dessert, and afterparty
• Your name in the program as a VIP supporter
• This Wild Garden local gift box from Farmstead Hudson Valley (one per couple)
• $1,200 is tax-deductible

$6,000: Fiddlehead Fern

• 4 VIP preferred seating tickets to the Gala including cocktails, dinner, performances, a live auction, dessert, and afterparty
• Your name on the Host Committee in the Gala invitation, website, and program
• This Wild Garden local gift box from Farmstead Hudson Valley
• Two-month subscription to Hudson Wine Merchants wine club (first month will be available for pick up at the Gala) 
• $4,800 is tax-deductible

$10,000: Morel

• Table for 8 at the Gala including cocktails, dinner, performances, a live auction, dessert, and afterparty
• Your name on the Host Committee in the Gala invitation, website, and program
• This Wild Garden local gift box from Farmstead Hudson Valley
• Two-month subscription to Hudson Wine Merchants wine club (first month will be available for pick up at the Gala) 
• Two transferable 2026 PS21 summer season tickets
• $7,500 is tax-deductible

$15,000: Hen of the Woods

• VIP Table for 10 at the Gala including cocktails, dinner, performances, a live auction, dessert, and afterparty
• Your name on the Host Committee in the Gala invitation, website, and program
• This Wild Garden local gift box from Farmstead Hudson Valley
• Two-month subscription to Hudson Wine Merchants wine club (first month will be available for pick up at the Gala) 
• Two transferable 2026 PS21 summer season tickets and two festival passes to The Dark 2027
• $11,500 is tax-deductible

$25,000: Chanterelle

• Premium VIP Table for 10 at the Gala including cocktails, dinner, performances, a live auction, dessert, and afterparty
• Your name as “Lead Supporter” on the Host Committee in the Gala invitation, website, and program, and acknowledgement during the evening
• This Wild Garden local gift boxes from Farmstead Hudson Valley for you and your guests
• Two-month subscription to Hudson Wine Merchants wine club for you and your guests (first month will be available for pick up at the Gala) 
• Four transferable 2026 PS21 summer season tickets and four festival passes to The Dark 2027
• $20,000 is tax-deductible

• Pooky Amsterdam & Tony Jones

• Judy & Tim Boomer

• Carrie Haddad Gallery

• Claude Arpels & Winsome Brown

• Sean T. Buffington

• Anthony Calnek & Linda Sugin

• Joe Cohn & Amy Chosky

• Deborah Conrad & Robert Weiss

• Marcia & Jess Fardella

• Vallejo Gantner

• Francis J. Greenburger & Isabelle Autones

• Louis Hedgecock & George Hall

• Julia Kent & Ernest Wurzbach

• Fred & Valerie Knecht

• Alice & Jim Kocis

• Marian Krauskopf

• Tony Muoser & Sara Cashen

• Jennifer Newman

• Susan & Harry Newton

• Lynn Rubin

• Roger Sametz & DuncanRhys Liancourt

• Nick Van Alstine

Support the PS21 Gala and align your business with the Hudson Valley’s leader in interdisciplinary contemporary performance. Purchase an ad in the program or select a sponsorship package that includes tickets to the event. Become a business sponsor here.

Thanks to our sponsors:

The Gala features a spirited live auction and paddle raise. Check out a preview of our exciting auction lots here.

For more than half a century, Chatham resident Lael Locke has dedicated her time, energy, and philanthropy to the pursuit of a thriving local community. Across countless roles, an enduring commitment to Main Streets and small towns—and most importantly, to Chatham—has remained the driving force behind her life’s work.

From 1996–2005, she served on the Board of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation. Early on in her tenure, she anonymously established the Our Town Fund, providing critical support to nonprofits in Chatham and four other local towns. In 1999, she greatly expanded the fund’s reach, transforming it into the Fund for Columbia County, where she served as President and spearheaded its tremendous early growth. The fund has gone on to become an essential force for our county to this day, responsible for more than $2.5 million in grants to local nonprofits. She remains an active member of the fund’s committee today.

Lael was elected eight times to the Chatham Village Board, serving from 1997–2012. During her tenure, she founded and served as president of the Chatham Business Alliance (now CABA), led the successful effort to plant trees on Main St., and helped establish Borden’s Pond, a nature conservancy within walking distance from downtown Chatham, now stewarded by the Columbia Land Conservancy.

In 2010, Lael played an essential role in preserving Chatham’s beloved Crandell Theatre. After the unexpected death of its owner, the Chatham Film Club (the nonprofit entity that is today the Crandell Theatre) set out to raise money for its purchase. With a private prospective buyer looming, Lael stepped up, joining PS21 founder Judy Grunberg, the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation, and local champion Jack Shear to commit the funds needed to secure the purchase. The group promptly turned ownership of the building to the nonprofit, ensuring the theater’s future as a community asset. Lael continues to serve on the Crandell’s board to this day, and was co-chair of its recent successful capital campaign, which led to the theater’s recent renovation and reopening.

Lael is a humble and dedicated supporter of numerous local organizations, including the Shaker Museum, where she serves on the Board of Directors. She has long supported PS21, with a particular commitment to Sharing Stories—PS21’s program bringing storyteller Nancy Rothman to local assisted living communities.

Earlier in her career, she published The Paper, a monthly publication focused on local communities, history, and the arts, serving Columbia and Berkshire Counties and parts of Dutchess County and northwest Connecticut from 1982-1995. She also spent fifteen years working with the New York Planning Federation, helping communities make informed decisions about land use, zoning, and planning. 

Lael’s daughter, Jennifer Lawrence, is an Old Chatham resident and has taught the popular Community Fitness class at PS21 for over a decade.

Photo by John Dolan, courtesy of Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation

PS21’s beloved founder, Judy Grunberg, was also the longtime owner of the Blue Plate restaurant, down the street from PS21 in Chatham.

Soon, the Blue Plate will become Four Corners, led by chef David Israelow. With over a decade of professional culinary experience, Chef David brings a deep passion for seasonal, ingredient-driven cuisine to the restaurant. A graduate of the French Culinary Institute and the Tokyo Sushi Academy, he has cultivated a diverse skill set that blends classic techniques with a global perspective.

David most recently served as the Head Chef and Culinary Director of Michelin-starred One White Street, a celebrated restaurant in New York City known for its elevated farm-to-table approach. His career has also included hands-on agricultural experience as a farm apprentice at Hawthorne Valley, where he gained a deep appreciation for sustainable food systems and local sourcing.

David’s philosophy centers on creating memorable dining experiences that honor the connection between farmers, chefs, and diners.

Geoff Sobelle

Geoff Sobelle is an actor, director and creator of original performance works. A dedicated absurdist, he uses illusion, installation and home-spun mechanics to create surreal, poetic pieces that look for humanity where you least expect it. His work is deeply collaborative and reflects long-time partnerships with other multi-disciplinary artists.

His most recent works include: FOOD (upcoming BAM Next Wave ‘23), HOME (BAM Next Wave ’17, Bessie Award) and The Object Lesson (BAM Next Wave ’14, Bessie Award).

“Absurd physical comedy has become a hallmark of shows created by Sobelle” — New York Times. 

Kimberly Bartosik

Kimberly Bartosik is a choreographer, performer, educator, and writer.

Her work has been commissioned by BAM Next Wave, New York Live Arts, Crossing the Line, Bates Dance Festival, American Dance Festival, and many others. Tours include Museum of Contemporary Art/MCA Chicago, PS 21 Center for Contemporary Performance, Walker Arts Center (2027), ADF, The Yard, MASS MoCA/Jacob’s Pillow, FlynnSpace, Bates, Columbia College, Wexner, and festivals in France, Italy, and Australia.

Recent awards include: New England Foundation for the Arts’ National Dance Project Production Grant (NDP); New York State Council on the Arts Support for Artists Award; Harkness Foundation for Dance Project Grant; Doris Duke Foundation Performing Artist Recovery Fund in the New York Community Trust; Guggenheim Fellowship in Choreography; MAP Fund; FUSED, Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists, and others.

Bartosik is a 2020 Bessie Award Honoree for Outstanding Production. As a member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company for 9 years, she also received a Bessie Award for Exceptional Artistry.

Raven Chacon and Laura Ortman

Raven Chacon is a composer, performer, and installation artist born at Fort Defiance, Navajo Nation. A recording artist over the span of 24 years, Chacon has appeared on over eighty releases on national and international labels. He has exhibited, performed, or had works performed at LACMA, The Whitney Biennial, Borealis Festival, SITE Santa Fe, Swiss Institute Contemporary Art New York, and more. As an educator, Chacon is the senior composer mentor for the Native American Composer Apprentice Project (NACAP). In 2022, he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Music for his composition Voiceless Mass, and in 2023 was awarded the MacArthur Fellowship.

For Zitkála-Šá is a series of twelve graphic scores dedicated to contemporary American Indian, First Nations, and Mestiza women working in music performance, composition, and sound art. The series as a whole is a dedication to the Yankton Dakota composer and musician Zitkála-Šá, (1876–1938) whose work also included writing poetry, fiction, and political essays, teaching, community organizing, and founding the National Council of the American Indian. The scores function as both transcriptive portraits of the contemporary Indigenous women artists and how they navigate the twenty-first century. 

Musician, composer, artist, and vibrant collaborator, Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache) creates intricate recorded albums, performances, and artistic soundtracks. An inquisitive, exquisite amplified violinist, Ortman is also versed in Apache violin, piano, electric guitar, vocals, and capacious field recordings. Ortman had her Carnegie Hall premiere with the Kronos Quartet in April 2026.

Saha Gnawa

Saha Gnawa brings North African futurism to the U.S., uniting the founders of Innov Gnawa with leading figures from New York City’s jazz and contemporary music scenes to reimagine modern Gnawa music.

Often referred to as “Sufi Blues,” Gnawa is rooted in Morocco’s ancient history. Over centuries, infectious rhythms and polytheistic spiritual beliefs originating from West African slaves integrated with Islam and the indigenous culture of Morocco, giving birth to a hybrid spiritual sect and musical community. The lyrics of Gnawa songs are prayers invoking saints and spirits for freedom and liberation. Gnawa music is revered and treasured throughout Morocco for its soulfulness and healing power.

The ensemble is co-led by Maâlem Hassan Ben Jaafer, a master musician carrying forward generations of Gnawa tradition as the son of esteemed Maâlem Abdullah Benjaafar of Fes. Trained in his father’s officially recognized Gnawa school and by master musicians throughout Morocco, Ben Jaafer earned the title of Maâlem (master) as a teenager—an honor bestowed only by consensus of other masters. He performs on vocals and guembri (a three-stringed bass lute) and has collaborated with artists like Randy Weston and leads the Grammy-nominated group Innov Gnawa.

Co-leader Daniel Freedman, a drummer and composer, brings decades of experience collaborating with artists like David Byrne and Angelique Kidjo, as well as deep knowledge of traditions from Africa, the Middle East, and beyond. The ensemble also features Amino Belyamani (Innov Gnawa, Dawn of Midi) and David Limzi (Innov Gnawa, Bombino) on qraqebs and backing vocals, Isaac Matus on synths, and Michael Leonhart (Steely Dan, Lenny Kravitz) on trumpet.

Get VIP tickets and enjoy some of the Hudson Valley’s finest offerings.

All Ramp ticket buyers and above receive a beautiful, locally-sourced gift box from our friends at Farmstead Hudson Valley. This Wild Garden is a celebration of the wild unfolding of the spring garden, and a tribute to the pollinators who make it happen.

Curated to be a unique seasonal expression of life as it unfolds in the Hudson Valley, the box features a hand-selected collection of small-batch goods from local Hudson Valley makers.

All Fiddlehead Fern ticket buyers and above receive a two-month, two-bottle wine club subscription from Hudson Wine Merchants. The subscription comes with notes describing each curated bottle, suggested food pairings, and more. The first month’s subscription will be ready for you at the Gala.

• Anthony Calnek, Co-Chair

• Deborah Conrad, Co-Chair

• Marcia Fardella

• Vallejo Gantner

• Claire Greenburger

• Louis Hedgecock

• Elaine Khosrova

• Marian Krauskopf

• Zack Levine

• Lisa Light

• Kelly Mackerer

• Jennifer Newman