El Museo del Barrio, New York City’s premier Latino and Latin American Art Museum, hosted its sixth annual Young International Circle (YIC) Benefit at The West Side Loft.

This year’s YIC benefit celebrated the age-old card game Lotería.  Lotería is a form of Mexican folk art, with each card displaying a colorful image of fabled Mexican figures; the game is most commonly compared to “Bingo.”

Three hundred international professionals, philanthropists and art aficionados flew in from North America and South America to support the community and education programs at the museum. Guests enjoyed a Latin night of cocktails and dancing and an extensive silent auction.  Steve Love and Noveau Riche DJed the event.

The West Side Loft was decorated with installation paintings of oversized Lotería cards designed by Teresa Villegas.  Orchid arrangements were scattered throughout and guests were be able to warm their hands by the cozy fireplace.  Mini tamales, Mexican tacos, and quesadillas were among the Latin dishes being passed around for the fun filled Lotería event.

Event chairs were Mayra Hernandez, Jana Pasquel de Shapiro, and Samantha Thompson.

Sponsorship for the event was graciously provided by Resort  Jets, Bloomberg, Cartier, Jose Cuervo Tradicional, Dos Equis, Ma Se Ca, Mission, and Quintessentially. 

The full benefit committee included: Paola Aboumrad, Sari Alikhani, Tiffany Alvarado, Sebastiano Andina, Leila Antakly, Sandra Ballentine, Alexandra Baquerizo, Sandra Barros, Jane Bloomingdale, Jamie Bonetti, Alejandro Brito, Christina Brito, Jane Bushey, Ruth Caldwell, Phaedra Chrousos, Henrique Cisneros, Karina Correa Maury, Christian Cota, Elizabeth Cota, Ian Cuttler, Jonathan D'Agostino, Beatriz de la Mora, Jamie Diamond, Dede Dixon, Juan Domingo Beckmann, Alonso Dominguez, Carolina Dorson, Luiz Fernandez, Wendell Figueroa Ruiz, Christina Finigan, Claudia Flores, Melissa Flores, Jimena Gallego, Tara Galvin, Beatriz Garcia, Eduardo Garza, Frederico Garza Bueron, Jeronimo Gaxiola, Jamee Gidwitz, Yvonne Gimenez, Eugenia Gonzalez, David Gravelle, Simon Guindi, Adriana Gutierrez, Carolina Gutierrez, Alex Hank, Michel Heredia, Charles Jacoby, Elizabeth Jacoby, Siddharth Kasliwal, Nicolas Kilner, Shirin Kooros, Estefania Lacayo, Claudia Laviada, David Lawrence, Carlos Longoria, Cassandra Longoria, Deborah Lyons, Karla Martinez, Allison Masters, Elizabeth Mateo, Daniel Mauser, Luisana Mendoza, Maria Mendoza Leviant, Lorna Montalvo, Jason Otano, Erika Pena, Samantha Platner, Carlos Ponce, Leticia Presutti, Lily Rafii, Demian Reidel, Albino Riganello, Tomas Rigo, Gabriel Rivera Barraza, Lorenzo Roccia, Adriana Rocha, Natasha Rossell, Guillermo Rossell Jaffe, Alexa Rudolfo, David Schwartz, Erin Shaffer, Adam Shapiro, Amy Shapiro, Sylvana Soto-Ward, Phoebe Stephans, Shai Tertner, Daniela Vargas, Lauren Weiss, Whitney Wolfe, Lucia Zamarron, Sulaika Zarrouk, and Julian Zugazagoitia