Watermill Gala Brings Us One Step Closer To Paradise

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This year's Watermill Gala, titled Paradiso, brought the air of the well-dressed and well-to-do into a heavenly night of installation art, costumed attendees, and even a human tornado.

The first thought that came to mind when entering the grounds of the Watermill Center was a very profound what the f---?! Greeted by snow monkeys (read: abominable snowmen) handing out leaves spritzed with the signature Watermill Paradiso Scent, we encountered these masked guests (pictured above) and a half-naked guy before even getting a drink in our hands.

But once overcoming that initial shock, and bringing myself back into the mindset of the girl who used to work at an art gallery for a living (in Berlin, at that), I fully embraced the eccentricity of it all, and had probably the most fun I've had at a charity gala so far. After the snow monkeys and the odd stone-floored installation, we grabbed a mojito and headed into the woods for a tour of the six acres of art installations.  From the violin player in the tree fort to the ethereal-ghostly human pods suspended from branches to the 30' fun house, the art, when approached with an open mind (and a cocktail in hand), was thoroughly entertaining.

And as one of the most anticipated events of the season, the crowd was unsurprisingly star-studded, with the likes of Alec Baldwin, Sharon Stone, Alan Cumming, Calvin Klein, Roger Waters, and Rufus Wainwright.  After the cocktail hour and silent art auction (including high profile works by the likes of Leibovitz and Mapplethorpe) came the dinner and live auction, with guest auctioneer Sharon Stone.

Overall, the gala raised $1.4 Million for the Watermill Center, and brought guests just one step closer to Paradise.