The Kitchen Spring Gala Honors Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi

The Kitchen will proudly celebrate visionary patrons Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi, alongside trailblazing jazz musician Max Roach (1924–2007) and multidisciplinary artist and filmmaker Lynn Hershman Leeson during its annual Spring Gala on May 22.

The couple is honored for their unwavering dedication to championing the voices and artworks of established and emerging contemporary artists of African descent. Together, Lumpkin and Boccuzzi founded the highly regarded Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection, which, with the help of co-curators Antwaun Sargent and Matt Wycoff, evolved into the traveling exhibition Young, Gifted and Black: The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection of Contemporary Art in 2019. One year later the collection became the subject of the bestselling book Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists (DAP, 2020).

Among the many talented artists showcased in the Lumpkin-Boccuzzi collection are notable Kitchen alumni and supporters, including Jacolby Satterwhite (featured in Robert Melee’s Talent Show at The Kitchen, 2010), Glenn Ligon (The Racial Imaginary Institute: On Whiteness at The Kitchen, 2018), and Sadie Barnette (The New Eagle Creek Saloon at The Kitchen, 2022).

The Kitchen is thrilled to recognize Lumpkin and Boccuzzi for their commitment to advocating for contemporary artists. As socially conscious collectors and devoted board members across several arts institutions, their combined efforts have profoundly impacted and positively improved Black artist representation within American cultural and art spaces.

Through their philanthropy and the touring of their collection, Lumpkin and Boccuzzi ensure that Black voices and perspectives are centered and uplifted. The Kitchen is thrilled to celebrate their achievements this Spring Gala—the organization’s largest event of the year—commemorating art world luminaries who are beacons of their communities.

The 2024 Spring Gala will take place on May 22, 2024, at Guastavino’s in New York. Ticketing information is available here.

About Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi

Bernard I. Lumpkin and Carmine D. Boccuzzi are custodians of Black art: past, present, and future. As the stewards of the Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection (@younggiftedblackart on Instagram), they provide a platform for both established and emerging artists of African descent in all mediums. The couple’s engagement as patrons and collectors is part of a broader mission of institutional advocacy and philanthropic support. They advise public and private entities on collecting, patronage and arts education. Through board service and other leadership roles at The Studio Museum in Harlem, the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, the Whitney, MoMA, and Yale, Lumpkin and Boccuzzi are helping to ensure that Black representation happens at all institutional levels. The Lumpkin-Boccuzzi Family Collection is the subject of the bestselling book Young, Gifted and Black: A New Generation of Artists (DAP, 2020) edited by Antwaun Sargent and published by DAP in 2020. In keeping with their focus on art and education, the couple have partnered with university art galleries and college museums on a nationwide traveling exhibition (now in its 5th year) that brings the work of Black artists to diverse audiences across the country.