It was an evening of inspiration and celebration for guests at the 7th Annual Wayúu Tayá Gala held at the Stephan Weiss Studios, co-hosted by Urban Zen founder Donna Karan.

The event included musical performances by pianist ELEW, Wyclef Jean, Facundo Monty, and Ruy Folguera.

Wayúu Tayá Founder Patricia Velasquez thanked the guests for their support and showed them a video documenting the progress in the Wayúu village and the remarkable impact the building of schools and welfare facilities have made upon this community. A video was also shown of the launch of the “El Mogú” School, named in honor of its philanthropist Stewart Rahr’s record donation at the event. Patricia then received a surprise video message of support from Venezuela-born musical genius and prodigy Gustavo Dudamel, the director of the LA Philhamonic Orchestra. He spoke about the need for a music center in the Wayúu village and urged donors to bid on it in the auction. A long time supporter of Wayúu Tayá, Earl Jones, purchased the music center outright.

Also auctioned off were paintings based upon photographs taken of the Wayúu children by photographer Jenny Woodman. Local artists then painted over the photos and with the help of the children, created one-of-a-kind pieces of canvas. Among the silent auction items were additional paintings plus clay pots made by women in the Wayúu Village, painted by children and then over-painted by three of New York’s finest artists—Peter Tunney, Peter Max, and Ross Bleckner
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Emcee Lola Ogunnaike invited everyone to meet again in 2011 for the 8th annual gala. We’ll see you then!