Press

Artist Sarah Sze and Physicia n/Author Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee to Receive Honor at Gala Event on May 21

NEW YORK, NY – The Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) announced today that artist Sarah Sze and physician and author, Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee will receive the inaugural Laurie M. Tisch Award at the Museum’s biennal fundraiser. The event, which takes place on the evening of Monday, May 21, will be held at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Manhattan and attended by 400 leading philanthropists, corporate partners and government officials. The award honors the extraordinary leadership role of Laurie M. Tisch as a philanthropist and innovative thinker in connecting the arts, health and education.

Announcing the selection, halley k harrisburg, Chair of CMOM’s Board of Directors, said, “We are thrilled that the inaugural Laurie M. Tisch Award recipients are artist Sarah Sze, whose dazzling sculptures are at once intricately detailed and monumentally scaled, and her husband, physician and author, Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, whose book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, was called one of the most influential of the past century. Honoring these two leaders in the arts and health mirrors CMOM’s pioneering work to connect the two fields on a national level. Promoting artistic engagement, as well as good eating, exercise and sleep habits among children, CMOM connects people of all different backgrounds to arts and health education.”

Ms. Sze, a sculptor and visual artist, is a Professor at Columbia University’s School of Visual Arts. In 2003 Sze received a MacArthur fellowship, and in February of this year she was chosen to represent the United States at the prestigious 2013 Venice Biennale. Public sculpture is an important part of Sze’s practice and she has made works for the High Line in New York, the Parnassus Library at the University of California at San Francisco, and the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her work has been shown widely in both the U.S. and abroad, at institutions such as: the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, among many others.
Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, a cancer physician and researcher, is Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University and a staff physician at Columbia University Medical Center. His book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer, won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction and was named one of the 100 most influential books of the last 100 years by TIME magazine.

“CMOM has bridged so many barriers in our city, providing access to the arts and health education for people of all economic and ethnic backgrounds,” said Laurie M. Tisch. “It is so fitting that the Museum honor a leading artist and scientist and author to shine a light on how both institutions and individuals can take responsibility for improving the emotional, intellectual and health lives of citizens of NYC and beyond. I am absolutely thrilled that Sarah Sze and Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee are the first recipients of this award.”

“Laurie M. Tisch is truly one of the outstanding philanthropists in our city,” added Andy Ackerman, Executive Director of CMOM. “Her vision to provide illumination across multiple spectrums is a pathway to future approaches to address needed and interrelated investments in health, the arts and education. Laurie has the courage and creativity to see how an institution like CMOM has unique attributes in pedagogy, reaching families and understanding audiences to deliver services that are not usually connected to a museum. How fitting that the first award in her name goes to a boundary breaking artist and a physician whose global thinking connects health to human history.”

The corporate honoree at the gala is Learning Resources®, one of the most respected makers of educational toys, games and materials in the country. Learning Resources and CMOM share similar educational values and pedagogies, emphasizing the importance of early childhood education, family learning and providing interactive tools and resources for all children across the learning spectrum.

CMOM’s Spring Benefit will raise funds for the Museum’s extensive local and national outreach programs, including work with pediatric cancer patients, children with autism, families living in homeless shelters and children in low-income communities across the city. In addition, funds will support two major national initiatives, one in early childhood obesity prevention with the National Institutes of Health and Head Start and the second in early math learning with the U.S. Department of Education.

About Children’s Museum of Manhattan
Founded in 1973, the Children’s Museum of Manhattan is New York City’s leading cultural institution dedicated solely to children and families. CMOM inspires children and their families to learn about themselves and a culturally diverse world through unique interactive exhibitions. CMOM presents a full range of activities, exhibits and special performances that stimulate children of all ages. Through multidimensional programs that reach deep into the community, the Museum serves New Yorkers from all backgrounds.