WSA Hosts the After Party Gala for Free Arts NYC

This year, the event was made extra special through the inclusion of honorees like Sasha Gordon, Katherine Bradford, and Jody Quon. This brilliance was furthered from contributions by creatives like Rama Duwaji, Futura, Roz Chast, Roxane Gay, Tschabalala Self, KAWS, Will Cotton, and Marilyn Minter.

At the gala, The Sketch Project made its debut. The prompt given asked contributors to create sketches that reflect the vision of New York City. Drawings, paintings, song lyrics, notes, and more were accepted as submissions. The pieces were then auctioned off, allowing emerging artists to stand alongside “blue-chip” artists. The evening was ornamented by music from saxophonist, Michael Foster Trio and complete by dinner and cocktails. Guests even had the opportunity to engage with the creative world through an immersive art experience. Designed by Katherine Bradford, each attendee received a Muji notebook screen-printed with one of Bradford's sketches. This was accompanied by Muji colored pencils in custom sleeves, encouraging a jovial spirit and allowing the energy of the night to course the hands of the people in attendance.

Art

Barbara Kruger: The Supreme Collager

April 30, 2026

Participating in the annual New York Antiquarian Book Fair, Harper's Books will exhibit acclaimed artists, including the legendary collager, Barbara Kruger. The collection of her original paste-ups encapsulates the artist's early transition from editorial design to contemporary art. As such, the collection feel more like an act of construction. Her blocky cut-outs of Futura are carefully assembled, tested, and positioned in order to simplify intense messages. Based on her time as a designer from both Mademoiselle magazine and leftist book publisher Schocken, Kruger masters how to strategically synthesize words and images in a way that is minimalistic yet riveting.

The work foregrounds her artistic methodology that defines her reputable portfolio today. This developmental phase reflects on how images circulate, how authority is established, and how meaning is shaped through the pairing of text and imagery. The pieces are from the 80s, when the voices answering these questions were still forming, meek and fluid. There's something so compelling about artwork from that past that so accurately portrays the present, reminding us that time exists on a spiral rather a linear line.

From April 30th to May 3rd, visit booth C23 at Park Avenue Armory to catch her work on display and for sale.

Art

Paul McCarthy: Power in the Provocative

I do what I want—what I believe in. We’re living in a pretty extreme time, and when people say my work is getting more extreme, I think that just reflects the world around us. I’m simply moving with the current.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, McCarthy’s beginning in the art world stems from proximal radicalization. After moving from Salt Lake City to study in San Francisco, McCarthy's work as an artist has always embodied this radicalization. Street-wise, known for being one of the most

“dangerous” artists in Los Angeles, this exhibit encapsulates that at its forefront. The artworks present provocative, scattered drawings and paintings that promote freedom from systematic censorship in the exchange between creator and receiver. His art style is distinctive in its intention of visibility over technicality, as seen in his limited color palette and intentionally imperfect techniques, but radical imagery.

McCarthy speaks about his artistic process as though the outcomes are inevitable and incredibly natural to him, given the current state of the world. Living in times of constant uncertainty has blurred the lines of media censorship; almost everything we consume is shaped by it, raising questions such as: Why was this said? Why was this created? Who is this for? Paul McCarthy’s work deconstructs this. His drive to create authentically and follow what feels natural to him results in art that inhabits the visual extremes of human experience, with the spirit of contestation serving as an added layer to the experience.

Art

The Wedding Written In Stone

April 27, 2026

Sten Studio walks down the aisle to couple with Alcova for Milan Design Week. Set within an abandoned cathedral where vows once echoed, The Wedding is a sculptural installation hosting a symbolic marriage between feminine and masculine, soft and stone, fluidity and structure. Rocks are fossilized fusions of their own ancient surroundings, built from eons of crashing waves or explosive magma. Love is based on divine circumstances, built through trials and tribulations. Love is much like stone in the way it takes form through time and pressure, relying on the invisible higher powers forcing the gravity of unity. The Wedding reflects on this permanence. The space materializes elements that are usually fleeting - light, flowers, ceremonies, romance. Registry gifts include a custom carpet courtesy of Verdi, floral arrangements from Hamish Powell, and scents brewed by Penhaligon’s, all coming together to build the intimate world.

Photos Courtesy of Ramona Balaban

Sten Studio specializes in stones and crystals as decorative interiors, expanding on natural, Earthly beauty in man-made environments. Alcova temporarily transforms raw, abandoned, and unique urban spaces into immersive hubs of design, innovation, and heritage. The featured collection revitalizes the cathedral for a final reception celebrating life and all its momentary yet abundant bursts of joy.