26th Annual Arts Brunch Honoring Donald Sultan ‘73
Sunday, May 18, 2025, 12 noon to 2:30 p.m.
The University Club, One West 54th Street
New York Carolina Club, UNC Departments of Dramatic Art, Music, Communications and Art, Ackland Art Museum, Carolina Performing Arts and Carolina Alumni cordially invite you to attend the 26th Brunch to Celebrate the Arts at Carolina.
This year’s recipient of the John L. Haber (“Habey”) Award (for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts) will be acclaimed contemporary visual artist Donald Sultan ‘73. PlayMakers Rep Artistic Director Vivienne Benesch, Department of Dramatic Arts Chair Kathryn Hunter-Williams, Institute of the Arts and Humanities Director Patricia Parker and Ackland Art Museum Chief Development Officer Andrew Parrish are UNC officials (among others) expected to attend – as well as various past-Habey honorees including Bryan Tucker ‘93, Senior Writer at Saturday Night Live, who will emcee.
Per tradition, we will spotlight a Young Alumnus: Nilan Johnson ‘14 international award-winning writer, director, and performer and Associate Artistic Director of The Drama League. He is the co-creator and founder of A Certain Something, an award-winning content creative company.
Admission: REGISTRATION LINK
$75 (plus $5 Cvent processing fee) for GAA members
$90 (plus $5 Cvent processing fee) for non-members (Non-alumni guests are welcome)
$60 (plus $5 Cvent processing fee) for Young Alumni GAA members (Classes of 2014-24)
$75 (plus $5 Cvent processing fee) for Young Alumni non-members
Admission includes a bountiful buffet brunch and beverages.
The link also provides an option to make a tax-deductible contribution to New York Carolina Club in support of alumni events whether or not you attend.
Special gratitude to Alan Weinhouse ’77, Tom Kearns (’57), and Josh (’07) and Jenna Evans
DRESS CODE: Please be advised of The University Club’s dress code, which is always in effect. Male guests must wear dress shirts and jackets (ties are not required). Female guests must wear clothing of equivalent formality. Jeans and other denim apparel, sneakers and shorts are strictly prohibited.
Donald Sultan was born in 1951 and grew up in Asheville, North Carolina. His father owned a tire company (Carolina Tire and Retreading) and was fondly known as “Old Norm – the Sultan of Tires.” Norm’s hobby was painting in an Abstract Expressionist mode which sparked Donald’s interest in nontraditional art utilizing unconventional industrial materials. Donald earned a BFA in Visual Art at UNC-Chapel Hill in 1973 and proceeded to earn an MFA at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago two years later.
Donald’s works are now held in the permanent collections of over 50 major international museums including the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim, the Metropolitan and the Whitney Museum of American Art all in New York, as well as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo, the Reina Sofia in Madrid, the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, and Tate Modern, London.
Recognition has also come his way in the form of a National Endowment for the Arts Visual Artist Fellowship (1980), UNC Distinguished Alumnus Award (1992), North Carolina Award (2010), Lifetime Achievement Award, Houston Fine Arts Fair (2011); and he’s a recipient of three honorary doctorates: from the Corcoran School of Art (2000), New York Academy of Art (2002) and UNC-Asheville, (2007).