Lia Chang Photos: Maya Lin, BD Wong, David Henry Hwang, Yeohlee, Oscar L. Tang and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at MOCA Legacy Awards Gala

Photo by Lia Chang

The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) held its 32nd annual Legacy Awards Gala Benefit at Cipriani Wall Street in New York on December 12, 2011.

32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

This year’s Gala highlighted MOCA’s educational role in fostering understanding and bridging gaps between cultures and generations, while recognizing extraordinary individuals who have made substantial contributions to the legacy of Chinese Americans.

Actor BD Wong, artist and architect Maya Lin and Chinglish playwright David Henry Hwang at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

Artist and architect Maya Lin, a Co-Chair of MOCA’s Board of Trustees, welcomed MOCA’s 2011 honorees, and special guests actor BD Wong, Chinglish playwright David Henry Hwang, fashion designer Yeohlee and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

Fashion Designer Yeohlee and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

The elegant soiree was hosted by CNBC correspondent Melissa Lee.

2011 Legacy Award honoree Pichet Ong, Mei-Mei Tuan and CNBC correspondent Melissa Lee at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

At the podium, Mayor Bloomberg said he wanted to attend the gala to personally congratulate his friend, philanthropist Oscar L. Tang, this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award honoree.

Mayor Bloomberg introduced Ms. Lin, the architect/designer who transformed the site at 215 Centre Street in New York, a 14,000-square-foot former machine shop, into a bi-level exhibit and administrative center for the Museum of Chinese in America, a museum that celebrates the living history of the Chinese experience in America.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and artist and architect Maya Lin at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

“The move into our new home at 215 Centre Street just two years ago has inspired a burst of creative activity,” said Maya Lin, Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees. “And MOCA’s success relies on our growing circle of friends who contribute their time, money, and talent to strengthen our mission.”

2011 MOCA Legacy Honorees Pichet Ong, pastry chef and author of The Sweet Spot, Dominic Ng, Chairman, President & CEO of East West Bank, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Lifetime Achievement Award recipient philanthropist Oscar L. Tang & David Liu, co-founder and CEO of XO Group Inc. at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

Carley Roney, Co-Founder, Chief Content Officer and Editor-in-Chief, XO Group Inc. (formerly The Knot.com) presented the Legacy Award to her husband David Liu, Co-founder and CEO of XO Group Inc.

2011 Legacy Award honoree Dominic Ng and Lulu Wang. Photo by Lia Chang

Lulu C. Wang, Chief Executive Officer of Tupelo Capital Management L.L.C., presented the Legacy Award to Dominic Ng, Chairman, President & CEO of East West Bank.

(LtoR) 2011 Legacy Award honoree Pichet Ong, celebrated pastry chef and author of The Sweet Spot with Mei-Mei Tuan at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

Mei-Mei Tuan, MOCA Co-Chair and Founding Partner, Notch Partner L.L.C., presented the award to Pichet Ong, celebrated pastry chef and author of “The Sweet Spot.”

2011 Legacy Award honoree Pichet Ong and his mom at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala Benefit at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

Sara Judge McCalpin, President, China Institute, and MOCA Trustee Anla Cheng, Partner, Sino-Century China Private Equity, L.L.C., presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to philanthropist Oscar L. Tang.

2011 MOCA Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Oscar L. Tang, his sister-in-law Jean Young and daughter Dana Tang at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

Actor BD Wong and Chinglish playwright David Henry Hwang, at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

Actor BD Wong, just back from shooting an episode of his new television show “Awake” in LA, was at the Gala to introduce Tony Award-winning playwright David Henry Hwang. Wong raved about Hwang’s sexy and hilarious new comedy now playing on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre, and recommended that everyone go see the play which has been named 3rd in Time Magazine’s list of Top 10 Plays and Musicals. As a teaser, Chinglish stars Jennifer Lim and Gary Wilmes performed an excerpt from the show.

Jennifer Lim and Gary Wilmes perform an excerpt from David Henry Hwang’s new Broadway play Chinglish at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala Benefit at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

Jennifer Lim and Gary Wilmes perform an excerpt from David Henry Hwang’s new Broadway play Chinglish at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala Benefit at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

Jennifer Lim and Gary Wilmes perform an excerpt from David Henry Hwang’s new Broadway play Chinglish at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala Benefit at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

Chinglish playwright David Henry Hwang, and his wife actress Kathryn Layng at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

Team Chinglish cultural advisor Ken Smith, projections designer Shawn Duan and cultural advisor Joanna C. Lee at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

Chinglish star Jennifer Lim and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

All proceeds go to advance MOCA’s vision and services, including the sponsorship of new exhibitions and the Trending Asian America Public Program series, the expansion of educational programs in partnership with local schools, and the preservation of the Collection and Digital MOCA.

(LtoR) MOCA Board of Trustee Co-Chairs Mei-Mei Tuan, Founding Partner, Notch Partner L.L.C. and artist and architect Maya Lin at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

 

Paul Huang, CJ Huang Foundation and Cao O, Executive Director of AAFNY at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

American diplomat Nicholas Platt and his wife Sheila Maynard Platt at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

 

2011 MOCA Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Oscar L. Tang at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

About the Museum of Chinese in America
MOCA was founded in 1980 as the community-based New York Chinatown History Project, and has since grown to encompass the journeys of a wide range of Chinese American communities from around the corner and across the globe. Since late 2009, when MOCA moved into the newly designed space by Maya Lin, located at the crossroads of SoHo and Chinatown, its exhibitions, programs, and audiences have expanded considerably. This was made possible by a public-private partnership to rebuild Lower Manhattan in the aftermath of 9/11 as well as MOCA’s growing community of donors led by its Board of Trustees.

Museum of Chinese in America is located at 215 Centre Street. For further information about the Museum, please call (212) 619-4785 or online at http://www.mocanyc.org.

Actor BD Wong, at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

Today, MOCA’s mission is to celebrate the living history of the Chinese experience in America, to inspire our diverse communities to contribute to America’s evolving cultural narrative and civil society, and to empower and bridge our communities across generations, ethnicities, and geography through our dynamic stories.

(L-R) Committee of 100 Members Arthur Liu, 2011 Legacy Award Honoree Dominic Ng, Maya Lin, Jenny Ming, Ted Wang, Lulu Wang, 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award Honoree Oscar L. Tang, Calvin Tsao, Alice Young and Anla Cheng at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011. Photo by Lia Chang

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Chinglish playwright David Henry Hwang and Lia Chang at the 32nd Annual MOCA Legacy Awards Gala at Cipriani Wall Street, 55 Wall St in New York on December 12, 2011.

Lia Chang is an actor, a performance and fine art botanical photographer, and an award-winning multi-platform journalist.

Lia made her stage debut as Liat in the National Tour of South Pacific, with Robert Goulet and Barbara Eden, and has since documented her colleagues and contemporaries in the arts, fashion and journalism as a photographer and videographer, collaborating with other artists, organizations and companies to establish their documentary photo archive and social media presence. Lia was featured as Joy in the Signature Theater Company’s revival of Sam Shepard’s 1965 Obie award winning play, Chicago directed by Joseph Chaikin at the Public Theater. She has appeared in Wolf, New Jack City, Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman, “As the World Turns,” “Another World,” and “New York Undercover”. Lia currently plays Nurse Lia on “One Life to Live”.

Selections of Lia’s archive of Asian Pacific Americans in the arts, fashion, journalism, politics and space are now in the newly created LIA CHANG THEATER PHOTOGRAPHY PORTFOLIO in the ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTS COLLECTION housed in the Library of Congress Asian Division’s Asian American Pacific Islander Collection.

Lia’s portraits and performance photos have appeared in Vanity Fair, German Elle, Women’s Wear Daily, The Paris Review, TV Guide, Daily Variety, Interior Design, American Theatre, Broadwayworld.com, New York Magazine, InStyle, Timeout.com, Villagevoice.com, Playbill.com, Theatermania.com, Smartmoney.com The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Boston Globe, New York Times and Washington Post. A former syndicated arts and entertainment columnist for KYODO News, Lia is the New York Bureau Chief for AsianConnections.com. She writes about culture, style and Asian American issues for a variety of publications and this Backstage Pass with Lia Chang blog.

Other Articles by Lia Chang:
Chinglish is Named in TIME Magazine’s Top 10 of the Year; Meet the Cast at Talkbacks after Select Performances in December
Photos: Yellow Fever Playwright Rick Shiomi Explores New Territory with An All-Female Cast
Photos: Kathie Lee Gifford at the 2011 Lord & Taylor Fifth Avenue Christmas Windows Unveiling in New York
Photos: Fall Foliage at Devil’s Lake State Park
Portraits of New York Chinatown After 9/11 Featured in “Post 9/11”: Commemorative Display at Library of Congress Asian Reading Room, 8/30-9/15
Coming to America through The Angel Island Immigration Station
Broadwayworld.com Photo Flash: Library of Congress’ IN REHEARSAL Exhibit
Photos: A.B. Cruz III and Lillian Kimura Receive 2011 AALDEF Justice in Action Awards
Photos: David Duchovny, John Earl Jelks, Amanda Peet, Tracee Chimo at Opening Night Party of Neil LaBute’s Break of Noon
Museum of Chinese in America Programs in Jan.to Celebrate the Lunar New Year in NYC
AAJA & MOCA FREE Panel & Town Hall on covering Chinatown: “CHINATOWN, UNCOVERED”
Multimedia: AALDEF Celebrates 35 Years of Protecting and Promoting the Civil Rights of Asian Americans
Fred Korematsu, American Hero and Civil Rights Activist Dies at 86
Celebrating my mom – AN ACTIVE VISION: BEVERLY UMEHARA…LABOR ACTIVIST…1945-1999
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.

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