One of Los Angeles’ most glamorous nights of the fall has come and gone, and it set a record. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art hosted its 15th annual Art+Film Gala on Saturday, November 7, honoring artist Vija Celmins and filmmaker Denis Villeneuve, and the museum says the evening raised nearly $7 million.

Here is a rundown of the night, drawn from LACMA’s own recap on Unframed and its announcement of this year’s honorees.

The honorees

The gala traditionally pairs one visual artist with one filmmaker, and this year’s choices covered very different kinds of image-making.

Vija Celmins is known for meticulous paintings and drawings of night skies, ocean surfaces and other subjects that reward slow looking. LACMA marked the occasion with a short film directed by Alison Chernick, titled The Way I See It, which offers a look inside Celmins’ New York studio. In it, she talks about arriving in America as a child refugee from World War II, the influence of California on her work and interests ranging from Magritte to Bob Dylan.

Denis Villeneuve is the Canadian filmmaker behind some of the most visually ambitious films of recent years, celebrated for large-scale, atmospheric storytelling. The gala’s honor puts him in a tradition of directors recognized by the museum as it works to make film more central to its programming.

A record night for the museum

According to LACMA, the 2026 gala brought together more than 600 guests from art, film, fashion and entertainment, and raised nearly $7 million, which the museum describes as record-breaking. The money supports LACMA’s efforts to bring film more fully into its curatorial programming, as well as its wider mission.

LACMA trustee Eva Chow and Leonardo DiCaprio returned as co-chairs. The gala was presented by Gucci, which has partnered with the museum on the event since it began in 2011, with additional support from Audi.

ROSÉ takes the stage

The evening’s musical guest was ROSÉ, the singer and member of BLACKPINK, who performed for the crowd. Her appearance was one of the most talked-about moments of the night online.

Faces in the crowd

LACMA’s photo recap features a long list of attendees from film, fashion and music. Among the guests pictured are Nicole Kidman, Timothée Chalamet, Anya Taylor-Joy, Kylie Jenner, Julia Garner, Sarah Paulson, Parker Posey, Emily Ratajkowski, Elsa Hosk, Odessa A’zion, Park Bo-gum, Alex Consani and Ningning, along with Gucci Creative Director Demna and Gucci President and CEO Francesca Bellettini.

The art world was well represented too, with artists including Catherine Opie, Mickalene Thomas, Christina Quarles, Calida Rawles, Alex Prager, Shio Kusaka and Jonas Wood in attendance.

New art on campus

Not all of the news was about the party. While welcoming guests, LACMA CEO and Director Michael Govan announced a new public artwork on the Paris Hilton and Carter Reum Terrace: Shio Kusaka’s Beam, a clay flying saucer with a yellow beam of light, positioned to welcome families to the museum’s W.M. Keck Education Center.

Govan also paid special tribute to Eva Chow, whose 15 years as co-chair have shaped the event since its first edition.

Why this gala matters

Plenty of charity galas come and go, but the Art+Film Gala has become a key date on the Los Angeles calendar because it sits right where Hollywood and the art world overlap. It gives filmmakers a kind of recognition usually reserved for painters and sculptors, and it brings significant money into a public museum.

The bottom line

Fifteen years in, the Art+Film Gala delivered its biggest fundraising night yet, a pair of honorees who represent two very different ways of seeing the world, and a guest list that kept fashion watchers busy all weekend. If you are in Los Angeles, the new Beam installation is the easiest way to see a piece of the night for yourself.

Image: Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California LCCN2013632447 by Carol M. Highsmith via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain Mark 1.0