At LACMA’s Art+Film Gala, Hollywood, Art and the Dodgers Shared the Spotlight

Among the first to draw the camera flashes were Cindy Crawford and Kaia Gerber, the ultimate mother-daughter duo, both in custom Gucci gowns.

“Best date ever,” Gerber said of her mom, who was by her side. “So far so good,” added Crawford. The two laughed about their synchronized getting-ready process.

“It was very easy. It was very chill,” Gerber said.

“We’ve done it before, so we have it down,” said Crawford.

“Yeah, and she kept me on time and punctual, which I appreciate,” Gerber went on. “I would have been here 30 minutes later if it wasn’t for her.”

Even their hair was a point of coordination.

“She got the middle part tonight,” Crawford said of their looks.

“The side part is your thing anyways,” Gerber smiled.

“That’s true.”

Their easy banter mirrored their sequined and embroidered looks — Gerber in molten red and Crawford in gold, echoing the evening’s unofficial dress code: sparkle.

“Sparkling in Gucci tonight,” said Crawford.

As the flashbulbs settled, talk turned to this year’s honorees, artist Mary Corse and filmmaker Ryan Coogler — and to the Dodgers, who were playing their second consecutive championship series against the Toronto Blue Jays. Inside, guests watched the game discreetly between sips of Champagne. At 9:17 p.m., when the Dodgers officially won, the room erupted.

“Go Dodgers,” cheered Michael Govan, the museum’s chief executive officer, when he took the stage just minutes later. “And you thought art and film were good. Go Dodgers — how about that?”

Director Jon M. Chu, wearing a sharp Dolce & Gabbana suit, was in high spirits for more than one reason. Chu, who directed the 2024 American musical fantasy film “Wicked,” is gearing up for the release of its sequel, “Wicked: For Good,” out Nov. 21.

“The kids are at home, so I’m good,” he chuckled.

“I feel like I’m in a Fellini movie tonight,” he added, describing his Italian look. He credited stylist Liat Baruch. “She’s awesome. She’s amazing. She helps me find my confidence. She helps me show how I feel.” And tonight? “I’m excited. I have my movie coming out, so I feel a sense of calm. I feel a sense of excitement. I’m looking forward to celebrating art.”

It was his first LACMA gala. “Celebrating art and film together, it’s really important we remind ourselves, both are in a dance together.”

That spirit of creative exchange echoed throughout the evening. When asked about her own most transformative art or film experience, Tessa Thompson — shimmering in silver Gucci — spoke thoughtfully about transformation.

“I went to see the new Kerry James Marshall show in London, and I’m such a massive fan of Kerry James Marshall,” she said. “He’s probably one of my favorite working artists. Every time I see his work, I am so incredibly moved, not just by the size and the amount of imagination, but just what he’s talking about, his treatment of Black identity and Black bodies in space. I’m just continuously in awe of him and his craft.”

Thompson recently started working with stylist Karla Welch, she said of her gown. “It’s been incredible. I love fashion. It’s something that has really been a source of inspiration for me since I was a little girl. Also, when I work, fashion becomes so much a part of building character.”

Her eyes lit up recalling her recent 1953-set film “Hedda,” with costume designer Lindsay Pugh bringing the period to life.

“When you do period films like that, and you’re making dresses, you really understand so much about construction,” said Thompson. “Sometimes as an actress you’re just plopping on a dress and taking it off. It’s only when you get to visit the atelier, you’re sat with the seamstress as they’re working on something, that you understand the amount of work and vision that these garments demand. It’s just a gift to get to work with these houses that are just extraordinary artisans.”

That same appreciation for craftsmanship extends to her red-carpet ritual. “I always have a moment before I hit the carpet, I’m like, ‘OK…’ You want to do justice to the dress and to the garment, to all the wild imagination. I always think, when you’re constructing a dress, you think of the woman hopefully that’s going to inhabit it, so it’s a joy to get to be that for an artist.”

Of the night’s honorees, Thompson said both the artistic and personal connections made them meaningful.

“I’m a Los Angeles native so Mary Corse is someone that I’ve known about, and I just think the way she’s been expansive with use of light, not just as subject but as material, is really inspiring. And I think she’s someone that got her flowers sort of later in her career trajectory. It’s just a nice thing to watch someone really getting their deserving recognition. And Ryan is a good friend, and I love him,” she said, having worked with Coogler on his 2015 sports drama “Creed.”

For Angela Bassett, wearing a striking chartreuse Gucci gown — and who later took the stage to introduce Coogler — her most transformative experience in film or art was one that hit close to home.

“In film, I have to say, maybe one I’ve been in, ‘What’s Love [Got to Do With It?]’” she explained, referencing the 1993 biopic in which she portrayed Tina Turner, capturing the singer’s rise to stardom and tumultuous relationship with Ike Turner.

“Not only for me as an artist and the growth that I had to go through but also the impact on audiences and some of the stories that I would hear from those who saw the movie and it changed their lives,” she went on. “Some of them needed to make a change or take a detour, take the off-ramp, in their own personal relationships and that to me was deeply of the power that film could possess.”

For Coogler, who arrived with his wife Zinzi Evans, the evening carried a deeper sense of reflection.

“First of all, I’m very thankful and honestly, taken aback to be here tonight,” he said of being recognized. “It makes me think about all the people that supported me in this process of getting in this industry and becoming a working filmmaker.”

His career began with “Fruitvale Station,” the 2013 drama about Oscar Grant’s life and death, a film that cemented his work for blending art with activism. When asked how he views cinema as both an artistic medium and a tool for social change, he paused before answering with conviction.

“In terms of cinema, it’s such an incredible art form,” he said. “It can be a populist art form, and it can be on the other end and be extremely artistic. It can be the whole spectrum. Whatever a creator wants it to be. If you tell a great story, you can do all of those things.”

Both Coogler and Corse hail from California’s Bay Area, two artists shaped by perspective while exploring storytelling in their own medium.

When Corse took the podium, the pioneering Light and Space artist spoke on her decades-long relationship with LACMA.

“It’s such an honor working with this museum,” she said. “My first show with LACMA was in 1970, and all the way until now, they’re still supportive. This museum really supports artists with a new way of seeing.”

The room was a union of the arts, film and the city’s cultural institutions. Among those in attendance were figures such as Cameron Shaw of the California African American Museum and Zoë Ryan of the Hammer Museum; artists including previous Art+Film honoree Mark Bradford and James Turrell, who introduced Corse; past film honorees like George Lucas and Baz Luhrmann, and local politicians.

Govan noted LACMA’s next milestone: the opening of the David Geffen Galleries in April, which will showcase thousands of artworks, from the museum’s permanent collection to new acquisitions.

“It’s a monumental gift to L.A.,” he said.

Govan announced that the gala had raised a record-breaking $6.5 million in support of the museum’s film initiatives. He also took a moment to acknowledge Gucci’s enduring partnership, noting that the brand’s artistic director Demna — who attended the event along with Gucci president and CEO Francesca Bellettini — was building a home in L.A.

“Thank you for the support forever, really,” Govan continued. “It’s been 15 years. We’re so deeply grateful for your generosity, your dedication in taking us on in those days.”

“I’m just so excited to have him at Gucci,” said Eva Chow, the event’s co-chair alongside Leonardo DiCaprio — also in attendance — reflecting on Demna’s arrival at the house.

Many attendees wore looks from Demna’s debut La Famiglia collection, but like Gerber and Crawford, Chow was among those wearing a custom creation by the designer, a light, feathered lilac gown. “He’s so talented.”

Guests mingled and dined at long, stretching tables lined with plum calla lilies and small golden lamps. The menu, crafted by chef David Shim of Cote, offered a refined nod to Korean flavors: crispy rice cakes, jidori heritage chicken with braised vegetables, ginkgo nuts, chestnuts and roasted kabocha squash.

Just beyond the doors, trays of espresso martinis made with Don Julio 1942 tequila and bite-sized chocolates awaited guests as Sza stepped forward to introduce the Grammy-winning performer. Moments later, Doja Cat appeared in a lingerie-inspired Gucci look and dripping in Chopard diamonds, launching into her first song as the audience pressed closer to the stage.

Somewhere in the crowd, a voice cut through the applause: “I’m not sleeping tonight.”