The go-to guy for art-world galas

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Ben Bourgeois will stage the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s gala celebration Sept. 25 launching the new Stewart and Lynda Resnick Exhibition Pavillion, and it’s hardly the first time he’s had such a high-profile assignment.

In soirees at the Louvre, the Annenberg Center for Photography and LACMA’s own Broad Contemporary Art Museum, Bourgeoise has brought what LAMCA trustee Jane Nathanson calls his trademark “wow moment” to the public unveiling of new art-world facilities.

Look for more “wow” at the celebration of the new $54-million Renzo Piano building on mid-Wilshire Boulevard -- but you’re unlikely to get details from Bourgeoise in advance.

“Do you want me to lose my job?” he asked Suzanne Muchnic when she asked him for some advance tidbits. More about this behind-the-scenes figure in art-world galas, read Suzanne’s story in Sunday’s Arts and Books section.

-- Kelly Scott

Above: Bourgeois at the Resnick Pavilion at LACMA. Credit: Mariah Tauger/Los Angeles Times