In case you missed it last Thursday, Barack Obama returned to Chicago on one of the rare occasions that a sitting American President has spoken at an official award ceremony for the annual Pritzker Architecture Prize, which you’ll recall went to Portuguese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura this year. Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama’s appearances were brief, just long enough to stop by to make a statement, which you’ll find in full below. The Chicago Tribune picks up on the rest of the politically star-studded evening (at least locally star-studded, though Frank Gehry was also in attendance). Here’s the President’s speech, with the remainder after the jump:

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Please — please, everybody, have a seat.

Well, thank you, Tom, for that introduction. Thank you to the entire Pritzker family for your friendship and incredible generosity towards so many causes. I want to welcome as well the diplomatic corps that is here, as well as Secretary Arne Duncan.
continued…

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Remember back around this time in 2009 how bummed Frank Gehry seemed to be about turning 80? Granted, that’s right as the architecture industry was struggling through one of its worst periods in decades, and in turn wasn’t treating the starchitect too well at all either. Between canceled projects and mass layoffs, it likely would have been a rough patch for most anyone. But what a different a couple of years makes, huh? The good people at Curbed have info on and a handful of photos from Gehry’s 82nd birthday bash. Held at the top of the Manhattan building baring his name, the Nicolai Ouroussoff-melting New York by Gehry, the guests included Bono and Ali Hewson, director Mike Nichols, artist Chuck Close, fellow starchitect Robert A.M. Stern, and many others. And in at least half the photos, he’s even offering up a big smile. So bravo for happier days and here’s to many more.

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Doug Aitken knows how to throw a party—although he prefers the term “cultural ambush.” The artist envisioned Saturday’s gala at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, which added approximately $3.2 million to the 31-year-old institution’s coffers. Dubbed “The Artist’s Museum Happening,” the bash included everything from a band of acoustic drummers and a ceiling-mounted light sculpture by architect Barbara Bestor to oven-roasted grapes and Jennifer Love Hewitt (who we like to imagine making small talk with some of the other approximately 900 guests, such as Frank Gehry and Chris Burden). MOCA director Jeffrey Deitch praised Aitken’s “extraordinary vision which brought together the worlds of art, design, Hollywood, and music in support of MOCA,” while Eli Broad, the museum’s founding chairman, was even more effusive. “The Artist’s Museum Happening has redefined museum galas,” he said.

Aitken took a cue from MOCA’s current exhibition featuring the work of 146 L.A. artists and went western for “WE,” an evening-long experiential artwork. Dramatic drumming welcomed guests into the gala’s tent, which featured interior walls covered in specially commissioned posters by artists such as John Baldessari, Catherine Opie, and Raymond Pettibon. Then came a series of linked performances by a string quartet, Devendra Banhart, Beck, and Caetano Veloso, with each singer featured in turn as accompanist and lead vocalist. After guests had polished off their mesquite-grilled, open-pasture-fed rib eye steaks and organic vegetables came more Aitken touches, including six rural farm auctioneers, the Los Angeles Gospel Choir, and a cattle whip performer (pictured above). Guests left with a copy of The Idea of the West, Aitken’s new artist’s book, and the taste of chunky almond-cornmeal butter cookies still fresh on their tongues.

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Renowned interior designer Bunny Williams was among the honorees at this year’s New York Landmarks Conservancy Living Landmarks Celebration, held earlier this month at the Plaza Hotel. The annual celebration recognizes New Yorkers who have made outstanding contributions to the City. Joining Williams on the dais to accept their awards and offer heartfelt (and occasionally musical) tributes to New York and its landmarked buildings were Vanity Fair editor-in-chief and restauranteur Graydon Carter; real estate developer Larry Silverstein; actor, author, producer, and philanthropist Marlo Thomas and her talk show icon husband Phil Donahue; Loews Hotels Chairman and CEO Jonathan M. Tisch; and Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Director Howard Dodson, who received the Lew Rudin Living Landmark Award for Public Service. Hosted by New York Landmarks Conservancy president Peg Breen and Conservancy board chair Stuart Siegel, the event drew approximately 400 guests and raised just over $800,000, a twenty percent increase from last year’s $640,000 tally. Meanwhile, Williams is not one to rest on her laurels. She’s been busy as a bee (her signature insect) creating buzz around her new book, A Scrapbook for Living (Stewart, Tabori & Chang), a room-by-room approach to creative and practical interiors. And, of course, she’s on Twitter.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Rare is the 25-year-old who can say that Chuck Close attended his or her birthday party (not to mention created works especially for the festivities), but then, AOL is no ordinary twentysomething. The indefatigable Internet company made Close the guest of honor last night as it celebrated its silver anniversary at the mesh-covered, SANAA-designed New Museum in New York City. The museum’s window-walled top floor was lined with a new series of portraits by Close, who AOL commissioned to aim his mega-Polaroid at innovators and creative visionaries including the Dalai Lama, director Gus Van Sant, artist Kara Walker, and himself (at right). Look for the photos to appear in a forthcoming AOL media campaign.

The bash—where we spotted artist Will Cotton, Kate and Andy Spade, and the perpetually impeccable Glenn O’Brien, among many others jostling for drinks from gentleman bartenders in shiny silver suspenders—doubled as a launch party for AOL’s Project on Creativity. Conceptualized with Partners & Spade, the broad-based initiative will include collaborations between AOL and Close on exclusive content, a program that will award $25,000 scholarships to 25 young people in creative fields, and a conference focusing on creativity and technology. “I’m very excited to be collaborating with AOL on this project,” said Close. “Since Tim [Armstrong, AOL chairman and CEO] joined the team, they have been rapidly evolving and intelligently investing in the global creative community.” One such investment was on display last night as AOL unveiled a new crop of 41 artworks—among them a “scribble scratch” scrabbled by Wolff Olins and photographer James Wojcik‘s mouthwatering strawberry—that will appear behind the company’s logo on the AOL homepage. Learn more about the artists and their artworks here.

Previously on UnBeige: