Last night, December 9th, Insecure actress, writer, and producer Issa Rae and Global Arts Platform Artsy hosted the 8th annual Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series Finale party at Miami’s infamous Villa Casa Casuarina – formerly known as the Versace Mansion. Rae hosted an illustrious mix of celebrities, musicians, socialites, designers and industry innovators to celebrate the extraordinary work of the program’s 16 finalists.
VIP guests including Olivia Culpo, Eva Longoria, Mark Ronson and Issa Rae’s Insecure costars Broderick Hunter and Sarunas Jackson; models RJ Kingand Beau Dunn; artists Gregory Siff and Allie & Lexi Kaplan; designer Gigi Burris; and influencer Olivia Lopez who mingled and sipped artfully crafted Bombay Sapphire cocktails while dancing to music spun by designer and special guest DJ Heron Preston.
The Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series is an annual arts competition to uncover emerging artists across North America and provide them with a national platform to showcase their work. This year, the series had a record breaking number of submissions before the 16 finalists were selected to debut their work at a special exhibit at SCOPE Miami Beach before the finale.
As the night winded down, Issa took the stage to announce Vancouver’s Vanessa Lam as the Grand Finale Winner of the8th Annual Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series competition (a first-time Canadian winner for the program). In addition to Lam, Issa Rae announced the Second Place Winner Ariel Vargassal (Los Angeles) and People’s Choice Winner Charity White (Chicago). Following her win, Lam will collaborate with the renowned global arts platform, Artsy,on a groundbreaking public arts installation set to debut in New York City next spring.
top image // 8th Annual Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series Finale hosted by Issa Rae, BFA.com/ Samantha Deitch
