.svg)
.webp)
FRIDAY, MAY 29, 2026 | 8:00PM – MIDNIGHT
This is a 21+ event, IDs will be checked at the door.
Step right up to the Dream Ball.
This year, the Art Students League of New York invites you to Circus of Wonder, an evening where spectacle meets studio and imagination takes center ring. For one unforgettable night, our historic building transforms into a vibrant carnival of creativity filled with daring performances, curious characters, live music, and unexpected delights which pay tribute League alumnus Alexander Calder and the joyous spectacle of his Circus performances.
Wander through scenes of astonishment. Encounter artists and entertainers who blur the line between audience and performer. Around every corner, discover a new marvel. This is a celebration of bold vision, creative risk, and the spirit that has defined the League for 150 years.
Dress to dazzle. Embrace the theatrical. Channel the ringmaster, the acrobat, the illusionist. Our Best Costume Contest returns with a prize worthy of the spotlight.
Join us under the lights for a night of wonder, revelry, and art in action, all in support of the League’s mission to keep high caliber art education accessible to all.
What to Expect:
Tickets (Use promo code EARLYBIRD by April 10th for 10% off!):
Entertainment
Emcee, Murray Hill
Murray Hill is a one-man entertainment machine: comedian, host, actor, writer, producer, and walking time capsule of classic showbiz charm. Television audiences know him as the lovable Fred Rococo on HBO’s award-winning Somebody Somewhere, and from his appearances on Life & Beth (HBO), Drag Me To Dinner (Hulu), Elsbeth (CBS), Welcome to Flatch (FOX), and King of Drag (Revry). NBC News selected him as one of modern history's 30 most iconic and influential drag performers. He’s been included in New York Magazine’s Fifty Most Iconic Gender Benders of All Time and named one of the Top 12 gender-bending performers in NYC by Time Out. He was recently awarded the Trailblazer Award by Queerty, and selected as one of Logo30 for being a changemaker in entertainment. His campaign for Mayor of New York in 1996 was inducted into the New York Historical Society. His memoir Showbiz! My Life as a Middle-aged Man will be out October 6, 2026, with Simon & Schuster's Gallery Books. He lives in Brooklyn in a fourth-floor walk-up.
Music By DJ Reborn
DJ Reborn is a trailblazing international DJ, sound collage artist, and arts educator.
Born in Chicago and based in New York, Reborn’s diverse career spans decades of electrifying audiences across continents. This sought-after phenom has opened shows for artists ranging from The Roots, Erykah Badu and John Legend, to Jack White. Her dynamic style has been embraced across mediums by artists like Kara Walker, Wangechi Mutu, Carrie Mae Weems, Julie Mehretu and Sanford Biggers. She has rocked the decks on BET, the NAACP Image Awards, prestigious stages and festivals including Carnegie Hall, The Sydney Opera House, Glastonbury, Camp Flog Gnaw, The Kennedy Center, and The Apollo. She is the resident DJ for the iconic Ms. Lauryn Hill’s world tour. Recently,Reborn dazzled at the Academy Awards Governor’s Ball alongside the incomparable DJ D Nice.
Reborn is an active arts educator and mentor, partnering with Urban Word NYC, Sadie Nash Leadership Project, Lower Eastside Girls Club and more. She is also the founder of DJs for Justice, a coalition of DJs using their platforms in service of racial, social and economic justice. She is currently developing an international performance piece centered around archiving the stories of women in the DJ world.
DJ Reborn’s uncanny ability to impact crowds from festivals to galas to weddings sets her apart in her field.
History of the Dream Ball:
Started in the 1920s the Dream Ball was a fundraiser for the League’s scholarship funds. Beloved for its eccentric, handmade costumes, at the Dream Ball, high-society met the radical artists of the Art Students League in a bacchanal inspired by an annual theme.
In 2023, for the first time in almost 70 years, we relaunched the infamous Dream Ball. Students, members, nightlife enthusiasts, and revelers flocked to this historic institution to take part in a night of celebration. Guests came dressed in dazzling hand-made costumes and spent time enjoying the scenery of four unique immersive rooms.
.svg)
.svg)
.svg){kind=icon}
