Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.
Over 70 AEF leaders gathered on September 4, 2025, at Independent 20th Century art fair in NYC for a special program featuring a conversation with artist Derek Fordjour and Sarah Arison, President, Arison Arts Foundation during which the two reflected on the topic of artists, legacy, and philanthropy. In 2024, Fordjour founded Contemporary Arts Memphis | CAM with a goal to expand opportunities for aspiring young artists in his hometown. A four-week, intensive summer fellowship for Memphis area high school students, the program provides fellows with studios and materials and three weeks of college-level instruction, followed by a week in New York City to visit artists’ studios, art museums and galleries, and university visual art departments, all with an aim to inspire these future artists as well as to educate them about potential professional pathways in the visual arts. Fordjour warmly credited Arison, who chairs the board of Young Arts, a nonprofit founded in 1981 by her family with a mission to identify and support exceptional young artists, as an important mentor in his work with CAM.
Spirits were high among the audience’s members, which included AEF leaders as well as graduates of AEFI’s Seminar on Strategy for AEF leaders. Derek and Sarah’s inspiring and humorous conversation was followed by a networking reception held on the outdoor loggia of the fair’s stunning facility – the historic Battery Maritime Building/Cipriani South Street.
View more event photos here. All Photography by Leandro Justen.
The evening was made possible by AEFI Event Sponsors:
