Oasis in a storm: The Black Arts Council’s MoMA affair dazzles with sculpture garden installation

The rain came down like a like a curtain of sequins, and we simply moved the stage. Inside MoMA, the Black Arts Council gathered in high spirits—silk skimming terrazzo, umbrellas parked like orchids at the threshold—while the drumline of the African beat threaded through a room of patrons, artists, editors, and elegant troublemakers. It was luxury with a heartbeat: conversations about legacy and newness, about patronage as praxis, about the art that keeps New York up past midnight.

We toasted what would have unfolded outdoors—the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden—and honored its mythology. Since 1939, that garden has been MoMA’s “roofless room,” conceived as an outdoor gallery where nature, architecture, and art conspire in public view. Even when the skies argue otherwise, its spirit animates every gathering: a place designed for changing installations and changing minds.

On view this season in the Sculpture Garden is Oasis in the City (July 3, 2025–May 2026), a lucid reminder that modernism is not a museum piece but a living climate. Last season’s installation, Figures and Forms, welcomed Simone Leigh’s Sentinel (2022)—a monumental presence standing over sixteen feet—re-scaling the space and, frankly, the conversation. Together, these chapters underline the garden’s role as a living archive: a site where forms are tested against weather, time, and us.

What made the night sing wasn’t just the playlist—it was the choreography of community. A curator’s question found a young painter’s answer; a collector’s curiosity met a scholar’s context; two strangers became collaborators before the bridge of the song could resolve. That is the Black Arts Council at its best: high style with higher purpose, engineering momentum under any forecast.

The Black Arts Council gathered at MoMA to celebrate the new sculpture garden display.Photo by Avalon Ashley Bellos

What to watch at MoMA this fall (2025)

MoMA’s fall slate arrives with range and rigor: Sasha Stiles: A LIVING POEM opens September 10; Stephen Prina: A Lick and a Promise follows September 12; New Photography 2025: Lines of Belonging opens September 14 (with member previews September 10–13). October turns the dial to major: Ruth Asawa: A Retrospective opens October 19 (member previews October 16–18); Helen Frankenthaler: A Grand Sweep opens October 25; and Time Travelers: Photographs from the Gayle Greenhill Collection opens October 31. Mark your calendars—the closing act of the year will be anything but quiet.

Nights like this remind us why we show up—in weather and in wonder. The rain did not dim the beauty; it concentrated it. For continuing coverage of New York’s art-luxury circuit, visit avalonashley.com

Interest in joining the Black Arts Council (I highly recommend)

Visit https://www.moma.org/calendar/programs/