Lincoln Heart for the Performing Arts (LCPA) has introduced that Stavros Niarchos Basis (SNF) Co-President Andreas C. Dracopoulos and groundbreaking dancer, writer, and advocate Misty Copeland will likely be honored at their 2026 Summer time Gala.
The occasion will happen Monday, June 1 at David Geffen Corridor, serving to kick off the beloved Summer time for the Metropolis pageant, which opens throughout the Lincoln Heart campus on June 10.
Copeland will obtain the inaugural Lincoln Heart Luminary Award, established to acknowledge main artists who’ve demonstrated each extraordinary expertise on stage, and civic imaginative and prescient: artists who create, convene, and look after communities. The award will likely be offered with remarks from Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum in Harlem.
Copeland’s distinctive profession and management each on and off stage is unparalleled. She is among the world’s most celebrated dancers and the primary Black girl promoted to Principal Dancer of American Ballet Theatre (ABT), a New York Instances best-selling writer, and a steadfast advocate for entry inside the arts by means of her work with the Misty Copeland Basis, in addition to a Board member of Lincoln Heart for the Performing Arts and devoted supporter of the Stavros Niarchos Basis (SNF) Lincoln Heart West Initiative since its inception.
Throughout New York and the globe, Dracopoulos’ management resonates by means of revolutionary and impactful assist of main establishments within the arts, schooling, healthcare, and social welfare. As Co-President of the Stavros Niarchos Basis (SNF), he has been a number one proponent of Lincoln Heart for the Performing Arts’ initiatives to ask extra New Yorkers into the ability of the humanities by means of creative and community-focused activations of out of doors areas. He was a driving drive behind Restart Phases, an outside performing arts middle created on campus in 2021 to supply secure areas for New Yorkers to collect and assist kickstart the performing arts sector popping out of the pandemic, and Summer time for the Metropolis, because the lead supporter of the pageant’s free programming since its launch in 2022.
“The humanities are a robust drive for inspiration and connection, basic to who we’re as a metropolis and to how we come collectively in neighborhood,” stated Mariko Silver, President and CEO of Lincoln Heart for the Performing Arts. “We’re grateful and honored to have fun the extraordinary expertise, imaginative and prescient, and civic management of Misty Copeland and the outstanding management of Andreas C. Dracopoulos – whose enduring dedication has helped advance our mission of making certain individuals in New York and world wide really feel a way of belonging and see themselves mirrored sooner or later we’re constructing collectively.”
Tickets for the efficiency portion of the Summer time Gala night for most of the people go on sale on Wednesday, Might 20 at 12pm by means of LCPA’s groundbreaking Select-What-You-Pay mannequin. Performers and individuals will likely be introduced within the coming weeks. Test for updates at LincolnCenter.org.
Because the occasion ushers in the summertime season, it additionally supplies vital assist for Summer time for the Metropolis – Lincoln Heart’s premiere free arts pageant, attended by greater than 1.6 million guests since its launch in 2022. The Gala can even shine a lightweight on the SNF Lincoln Heart West Initiative, a mission launched in 2023 to open up the Amsterdam Avenue aspect of Lincoln Heart’s campus. With welcoming entrances, public neighborhood gardens, and a world-class amphitheater, this Initiative reinforces Lincoln Heart’s mission to make the humanities accessible to all, increasing our collective creativeness and creating connections and dialogue.
