Veuve Rhymes with Love

On December 5, we partnered with our friends at Veuve Clicquot to celebrate artists curators, organizers, educators, and champions doing the work in Miami, New York, and around the globe at Swan in the Design District. Inspired by the audacity of Madame Clicquot—the founder and inventor of the first vintage Champagne in 1810 and the first blended rosé in 1818—we raised a glass (or two) to the women forging their own paths and redefining expectations.

In this spirit we honored Jasmine Wahi, co-director of Project for Empty Space, curator, and activist. Jasmine’s work focuses on issues of femme empowerment, complicating binary structures within social discourses, and exploring multi-positional cultural identities through the lens of intersectional feminism.

Aligning with our shared mission of centering and uplifting artists, we also collaborated with Veuve Clicquot to commission Isabella Mellado for our first-ever capsule edition. Titled Wheel of Fortune, her piece is inspired by the idea of chosen family, and informed by reoccurring themes exploring magical realism, Latinidad, queer identity, and tarot. Isabella is an alumnx of YoungArts—an organization near and dear to many of our hearts, dedicated to advancing the careers of artists.

Daresay, every art week should begin with intention-setting and a toast with loved ones.

Isabella Mellado, Wheel of Fortune (2023)

Overwhelming gratitude to Grace Lui, Chelsea Castro, Danny Reyes, Patrick Richards, and Paul Saunders for supporting us. To the Commissioner team, and Jenna Ingraham—our partnerships queen—we could not have done this without you. To Marie-Louise Kalonji of Virtual PM, curator Luisa Múnera of YoungArts, and Made Creative Agency who helped bring our ideas to life. And to Jasmine Wahi and all of our guests, who so generously embarked on this voyage and brought all the hugs and joy. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Photos by Chantal Lawrie.