Publishing is full of rankings, from power lists to best-dressed lists to under-40 lists. The CULT100 is different. There is just one criterion for inclusion—but it’s a high bar.

To qualify, a candidate must be actively shaping and changing our culture in real time. The people on this list represent five generations and hail from the worlds of food, publishing, art, fashion, activism, and entertainment. To put this group together, CULTURED‘s editors leveraged the full strength of our network, tapping artists, writers, and cultural leaders to tell us who they look to when they want to feel challenged, hopeful, and inspired.

Some members of the CULT100 are household names; others have been working behind the scenes to make possible the cultural encounters that stop us in our tracks. In a time of binary thinking, the creators featured in this year’s list are embracing contradiction, bouncing willfully between disciplines, and refusing to take no for an answer. They have guts, vision, and a potent cocktail of realism and optimism. None of them is shying away from the anxiety of our moment. Instead, they are thinking big, sharing generously, and embodying courage. The good news is, their work makes us all a little bit braver, too.

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MADELEINE GRYNSZTEJN
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ABBEY DRUCKER
Photography by ABBEY DRUCKER

SARAH ARISON

ARTS PATRON

The most consequential arts philanthropist of her generation, Arison just took over as the president of The Museum of Modern Art’s Board after luring Connie Butler from California to helm its sister institution, MoMA PS1.

WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT? My kids. Oh, and also that we live in a country where hate speech, racism, and antisemitism are acceptable; women have no rights over their own bodies; and climate change isn’t real. It’s difficult not to be unsettled by that.

IF YOU COULD ATTRIBUTE YOUR SUCCESS TO A SINGLE QUALITY, WHAT WOULD IT BE? When I moved to New York, I just started showing up—for artists, for friends, for institutions. I was dedicated to getting to know all the organizations, the work they were doing, and the people involved. Over the past 20 years, I have seen so much and met so many people, and that’s why I’m able to do the work that I do. I am so lucky to be part of this incredible community.

"Collaboration! It’s the only way we will make it through the challenging times we are facing."

WHO DO YOU CALL THE MOST? Michi Jigarjian. I consider her my sounding board for so much. We both sit on the board of YoungArts [whose board I chair] and MoMA PS1, and she also chairs Baxter Street and is on the board of the Brooklyn Museum. And she builds hotels. And she’s an amazing collector and phenomenal supporter of artists. And she has three kids. She’s the most incredible, supportive friend ever.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE MORE OF IN YOUR INDUSTRY? Collaboration! It’s the only way we will make it through the challenging times we are facing.

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MADELEINE GRYNSZTEJN
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LIEV SCHREIBER