Flourish
For All, Forever

May 9, 2026 | 6:00–9:00 pm
Semi-formal attire

Honoring

Hugo McCloud: Outstanding Artist
Abby and Doug Bennett and The Sands Family Foundation: Visionary Champions
M&T Bank: Community Partner

Individual tickets will go on sale in April!

• Sponsorship
• About Our Honorees
• Schedule of Events

Be a Catalyst for Arts Access

MAG Gala 2026 proceeds support expanding access to the arts, including education, exhibitions, programming, and more, benefiting the Rochester community and beyond.

Sponsorship Levels

Please note: If you are paying for your sponsorship using a donor-advised fund (DAF), the fair market value of the gala tickets must be paid separately. Please contact the Memorial Art Gallery for assistance with DAF payments.

For more information, contact: Jamie Beers, Director of Advancement, jbeers@mag.rochester.edu, 646.489.7777.

About Our Honorees

Hugo McCloud
Outstanding Artist

Born in Palo Alto California in 1980, Hugo McCloud is one of the most prolific artists working today. McCloud’s work has quickly evolved through a process of restless experimentation, bringing inventiveness and fearlessness to the act of making. The artist is engaged in an ongoing quest to elevate and master diverse methodologies and the array of subjects his work addresses. An abiding, unifying theme is Hugo’s preoccupation with finding beauty in the everyday.

Self-taught with a background in industrial design, McCloud’s practice is unrestricted by classical, academic tenets. He has gravitated toward materials that could be considered abject – roofing materials, solder, and presently, single-use plastic bags. Drawing inspiration from the rawness of the urban landscape, McCloud creates rich, large-scale abstract paintings and by fusing unconventional industrial materials with traditional pigment and woodblock printing techniques. McCloud’s newest body of figural work touches on notions of class, particularly through his use of plastic bags. His investigation into plastic began after traveling to India and seeing multi-color polypropylene plastic sacks everywhere. Observing the downcycle of these bags from their creation to the companies that purchased them for the distribution of products, to the trash pickers in Dharavi slums, McCloud saw how this ubiquitous material passed through the hands of individuals at every level of society.

These representational works address issues concerning the economics of labor, geopolitics and the environmental impact of plastic. McCloud continues his practice of incorporating industrial materials using plastic as a tool to better understand our similarities and differences as a human race; to connect to our environment; and to contribute to reversing the negative impact of our carbon footprint.

McCloud has been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Fenix Museum in The Netherlands, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum in Ridgefield, Connecticut, The Arts Club, London and Fondazione 107, in Turin, Italy. He has also been featured in group exhibitions at the Nasher Museum at Duke University, the Institute of Contemporary Art San Francisco, the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, the Brooklyn Museum, New York, the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, and The Drawing Center, New York. His work is in the collections of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C., the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Detroit Institute of the Arts, The Margulies Collection at the Warehouse, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, the Brooklyn Museum, the Mott Warsh Collection, and The Joyner/Giuffrida Collection.

Hugo McCloud lives and works in Brooklyn, New York and Tulum, Mexico.

Abby and Doug Bennett and The Sands Family Foundation
Visionary Champions

The Bennetts and the Sands Family Foundation are long-time supporters of the University. The Bennetts are members of the George Eastman Circle, the University’s leadership annual giving society. They provide sustaining annual support to MAG and Simon Business School, and they are also generous supporters of Golisano Children’s Hospital. In addition to his role as a trustee for the University and MAG, Doug is a member of the Simon Campaign Advisory Council and the MAG Board of Managers, and he chairs the MAG component of the For Ever Better campaign.

The Sands Family Foundation, led by cochairs Richard Sands, a University trustee emeritus, and Robert Sands, supports projects and organizations focused primarily on serving the health, educational, and cultural needs of the community. Each now serves on the board of directors of Constellation Brands, the company their family founded and grew into a leader of the beverage alcohol space. The foundation, its leaders, and the family have provided a variety of support to the University over the years, including at MAG, Simon, and the Medical Center.

In 2022, the Bennetts, the Sands Family Foundation, and Constellation Brands also provided leadership funding to expand MAG’s Centennial Sculpture Park, which is always free and open to the public.

M&T Bank
Community Partner

Schedule of Events

6:00 pm | Cocktails and Museum Viewing

7:45 pm | Welcome and Dinner
Enjoy an art-inspired dinner, curated by Julia K Caters

8:30 pm | Awards and Remarks

Header image credit: Hugo McCloud, detail of For a Moment, 2025. Courtesy of the artist and Sean Kelly Gallery, New York