Press Room

MAD BALL 2025
Wednesday, October 29 | New York City

New York, NY (October 9, 2025)

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) will honor renowned potter and designer Jonathan Adler with its MAD Visionary Award at the Museum’s annual MAD Ball gala on Wednesday, October 29.

Guests of MAD Ball will be welcomed with live jazz and cocktails in the lobby and will have the opportunity to explore exhibitions throughout the Museum, meet MAD’s artists-in-residence in their working studios, and take part in masquerade mask-making that sets the stage for the evening’s afterparty. Dinner will be held at Robert, the restaurant at MAD overlooking Central Park, with a program hosted by author and television personality Simon Doonan. Also announced will be the launch of MAD’s Black and White auction, offered in partnership with Rago/Wright.

Following the gala, all guests are invited to continue the celebration nearby at Masquerade, where the MAD Ball Afterparty will offer more revelry. Masks—whether handmade earlier in the evening or brought from home—will be encouraged.

All proceeds from MAD Ball support the Museum’s exhibitions and programs, ensuring that MAD continues to champion contemporary makers and spark dialogue around the role of craft and design in shaping culture. The event is made possible through the generous support of Lead Sponsors Marian and Rusty Burke, and Michele and Marty Cohen, along with Dinner Sponsor Barbara Tober.

On view through April 19, 2026, The Mad MAD World of Jonathan Adler marks Adler’s first curatorial project, pairing more than 60 works from the Museum’s permanent collection with his own designs. Also, Adler will appear in a series of conversations at MAD with art historian Rachel Federman (December 11), and design expert Sarah Archer (February 12), exploring his influences, collections, and perspectives on craft and design.

EVENT DETAILS

Wednesday, October 29, 6 pm
Museum of Arts and Design
2 Columbus Circle, NYC

For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.madmuseum.org/events/mad-ball-2025.

EXHIBITION CREDITS

The Mad MAD World of Jonathan Adler is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF ARTS AND DESIGN

The Museum of Arts and Design (MAD) champions contemporary makers across creative fields and presents the work of artists, designers, and artisans who apply the highest level of ingenuity and skill. Since the Museum’s founding in 1956 by philanthropist and visionary Aileen Osborn Webb, MAD has celebrated all facets of making and the creative processes by which materials are transformed, from traditional techniques to cutting-edge technologies. Today, the Museum’s curatorial program builds upon a rich history of exhibitions that emphasize a cross-disciplinary approach to art and design, and reveals the workmanship behind the objects and environments that shape our everyday lives. MAD provides an international platform for practitioners who are influencing the direction of cultural production and driving twenty-first-century innovation, and fosters a participatory setting for visitors to have direct encounters with skilled making and compelling works of art and design. For more information, visit madmuseum.org.