In the absence of the East Coast’s blizzard blues, Artadia ordered a full day of Los Angeles sunshine for its fourth annual tennis tournament. On a bright Monday afternoon, LVBL instructors held a series of matches between artists, collectors, and co-chairs outfitted in boutique tennis staple Spence. The fundraiser kicked off Frieze Week on a high note, raising $85,000—enough to underwrite all three Artadia Award grants (CULTURED‘s 2026 Young Artist Prize honoree Ali Eyal earned the award last year).
The Locale: Held at the storied Los Angeles Tennis Club, founded in 1920, the venue is famously hard to get into, but continues to open its doors each year for the festive benefit tournament.
The Crowd: The mix of Artadia friends and supporters included co-chairs Zach Stafford, Aurele Danoff Pelaia, and Honor Titus; USTA Foundation CEO Ginny Ehrlich; Artadia awardees Heesoo Kwon, Esteban Raheem Abdul Raheem Samayoa, Marcel Pardo Ariza, and Roksana Pirouzmand; artists Ariana Papademetropoulos, Charles Gaines, and Eamon Ore-Giron; patrons Sarah de Blasio and Beth Rudin DeWoody, dealers Ellie Rines, Anat Ebgi, Esther Kim Varet, François Ghebaly, and William Hathaway; and Artadia teammembers Bora Kim, Claire Malloy, and Megan Karangutkar.
Food and Drink: Players and guests alike joined together for a festive taco lunch with spritzes. Open seating was formatted intentionally, encouraging easy conversations between artists, collectors, and Artadia board members. To cap off the festivities, surprise birthday cupcakes were offered to event co-chairs Stafford and Pelaia.
Memorable Moment: Titus gamely changed from formalwear into tennis gear—and back again—to fully join in on the energizing gameplay in an unexpectedly playful turn of events.
Parting Gift: Guests left with a new Artadia tote featuring a playful graphic by artist Guillaume Berg (Virgil Abloh’s former right-hand), filled with a Mizu water bottle, Tavi socks, Vooray belt bags, and a Frieze Week preview catalogue.
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