The eclipse on April 8 marked New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts’ “biggest celebration of creative change makers to date!” As the purple carpet was rolled out in Cipriani South Street in NYC, professors, students, alum and more gathered to acknowledge honorees actor Corey Stoll, singer/songwriter Madison Love and film director Ang Lee at the 2024 Tisch Gala.
Gracing the carpet to be photographed with the honorees and more, Tisch Dean Allyson Green took a moment to explain how she and the NYU staff manage to keep Tisch a safe haven for actors in the current political climate. “I think we focus on not just making a safe space but a brave space,” Dean Green asserted. “… We have to have difficult conversations, and if we aren’t teaching students how to have empathy and how to have those conversations, we can’t actually be the artists who are telling the stories that need to be told throughout the world. NYU is having dialogues right now to keep having conversation. But most of all, our students are making the work that gives me hope.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – APRIL 08: Ang Lee attends the 2024 NYU Tisch School Of The Arts Gala at Cipriani South Street on April 08, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
Carrying out NYU’s mission are the alum and honorees. Also celebrating his 40th anniversary since graduating from NYU, Ang Lee was honored for his work that resulted in him winning three Academy Awards. Lee is best known for Life of Pi, Hulk, Hidden Dragon and more.
When she isn’t writing for Ava Max, Selena Gomez, Lady Gaga and more, Madison Love, a Clive Davis School of Recorded Music ‘17 graduate, serves peers in her industry through The Madison Love Future Fund. She also took a moment to encourage artists to “hustle” before leaving the purple carpet. “You gotta really put in the hours,” Love asserted.
Since graduating from Tisch’s MFA acting program in 2003, Stoll has appeared in multiple theatre and film works including Ant-Man, Billions, and Braden Jacobs-Jenkin’s Appropriate. Nodding to Dean Greens hope for her students, Stoll reported, “I found at NYU we were really encouraged to learn about ourselves and know ourselves.”
“The final job is to transform into other characters but you don’t do that by neutralizing yourself or turning yourself into a blank slate, you do that by embracing your individuality and embracing your eccentricity,” Stoll concluded.
The night ended, after dinner and performances by current NYU students, with dancing and more photos!