On Tuesday night, as joggers wove down Eastern Parkway toward Prospect Park, art world fixtures stepped out of black cars and filed past blossoming trees into the Brooklyn Museum.
Inside, the institution was hosting the Brooklyn Artists Ball, its largest annual fund-raiser. The evening honored Titus Kaphar, the American painter, whose work is currently in the museum’s exhibition, “Giants: Art From the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys.”
Mr. Kaphar said the night felt “kind of shocking.”
“I didn’t grow up going to museums,” Mr. Kaphar, explained, recalling when he first saw an exhibit of the painter Kehinde Wiley’s work at the Brooklyn Museum when he was a graduate student.
“I’d never considered the possibility that my work would exist in a place like this until I saw that brother do what he was doing. Then I thought maybe, just maybe.”
Stars including Naomi Watts and Rosamund Pike slid in just before dinner — baby artichokes and sunchoke ravioli. They sat near Maria Grazia Chiuri, the creative director of Dior, a sponsor of the event. Elsewhere in the crowd: Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado of New York and the artists Marina Abramovic, Kehinde Wiley and Mickalene Thomas.
Dinner was followed by a performance from the British rapper Little Simz. As the waiters dropped passionfruit puff pastries, guests including the curator Antwaun Sargent and the artist Kennedy Yanko, stood and bantered. (The event raised $3 million, a record for the Artists Ball, and drew more than 600 people.)
Attendees then headed downstairs for an after-party, where the crowd, including the museum’s director, Anne Pasternak, packed around a small booth for a D.J. set from Swizz Beatz. He kicked it off by playing several songs he produced for the rapper DMX, who died on the same day in 2021.
“Put your X in the air for my brother DMX,” the D.J. cried to partygoers, who followed suit, and kept dancing until late in the evening.
GQ’s Global Creativity Awards
The worlds of fashion, art, music and commerce collided again Thursday night for GQ Magazine’s second annual Global Creativity Awards held in Manhattan’s Financial District.
The magazine drew more than a 100 designers, writers, artists and media figures to the event, tied to their latest issue, which celebrates multidisciplinary figures that GQ recognizes for their significant cultural impact.
Honorees included the Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton; the actress and model Hunter Schafer; the actor and screenwriter Danny McBride; the musician Asake; the artist Lauren Halsey; the creative director of Marni, Francesco Risso; and Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor of the band Nine Inch Nails.
“The cynic in me immediately kicks in to: I’m uncomfortable being praised about anything,” Mr. Reznor said. “But also in my old age, I’ve come to appreciate recognition.” (The Nine Inch Nails collaborators recently introduced a new multidisciplinary company.)
Over cocktail hour, next to a sweeping backdrop overlooking the East River, Asake chatted with Michaela Coel, the actor and screenwriter. Nearby, Willy Chavarria, the fashion designer, mingled with the actor Adam DeVine as he took photos for Mr. McBride.
Guests were then ushered to their seats for dinner, which included an awards program hosted by the actor J.B. Smoove, known for his role on “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” and GQ’s global editorial director Will Welch. Throughout the night, speeches from presenters — like the director Ken Burns and the artist Mickalene Thomas — introduced each honoree.
Communing on shared plates of filet mignon and sashimi, presenters and honorees sat together. Many are longtime friends, like the musician Erykah Badu and Mr. Risso, and Mr. Hamilton and Mellody Hobson, the president and co-chief executive of Ariel Investments. Sandwiched between them was Ms. Hobson’s husband, the director George Lucas.
As the after-party began around 11 p.m., Ms. Badu was among the guests who quietly exited, but not before posing outside for a casual photo with an eager fan undeterred by the wind gusts.