Over the years, ISI has provided many unique opportunities to hear from some of the most important American leaders of our time.


This spring, join us at our 18th Annual Gala as we explore the theme “Beauty Will Save America.” How might a promotion of the highest standards of beauty and artistic achievement inspire us to renew our national, civic, and cultural identity as Americans?


In honor of our late friend, trustee, and patroness of the arts, Linda Bean, we will honor renowned Brandywine artist, Jamie Wyeth, with the inaugural Linda L. Bean Prize for Advancing American Art & Culture. Jamie is a third-generation artist — son of Andrew Wyeth, and grandson of N.C. Wyeth — and a distinguished contemporary realist painter. Upon receiving the award, Jamie will unveil a new portrait of Linda that he painted after her passing in March 2024.


Our keynote speaker for the evening will be Dana Gioia, internationally acclaimed poet and former NEA chair. ISI will be presenting Dana with its highest institutional honor, the Charles H. Hoeflich Lifetime Achievement Award. Dana is a longtime friend of ISI and has taught at student and alumni events. Furthermore, he played a pivotal role in Andrew Wyeth, Jamie’s father, receiving the National Medal of the Arts in 2007 when he served in the George W. Bush administration. After Dana’s keynote address, Jamie will join him on stage for a conversation about renewing American art.


The event will begin with a reception from 6:00-7:00 PM, followed by dinner and keynote address from 7:00-10:00 PM.

To cap off the night, there will be an afterglow with drinks and other refreshments from 10:00-11:00 PM!


We hope you’ll join us!

About Our Speakers

Jamie Wyeth

James (Jamie) Browning Wyeth (b. July 6, 1946) has attracted considerable attention since adolescence as a third-generation American artist: son of the late Andrew Wyeth, among the country’s most popular artists, and grandson of Newell Convers Wyeth, famous for his distinctive illustrations for the classic novels by Stevenson, Cooper and Scott. Born in Wilmington, Delaware, just south of Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, where he grew up and still lives part time, in addition to his home in Tenants Harbor, Maine. He left public school after the sixth grade to be home-tutored so he could devote more time to art; he spent at least eight hours a day studying, sketching and painting. A sensitive observer of his rural surroundings, Wyeth began painting livestock and other animals with the same care and intensity that he devoted to portraits of people. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, he received commissions to paint portraits of Delaware Governor Charles L. Terry and a posthumous portrait of President John F. Kennedy.


His works are also included in many public collections, including those of the Brandywine River Museum in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania; Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington; Terra Museum of American Art in Chicago; The National Gallery of Art and The National Portrait Gallery, both in Washington, DC; John F. Kennedy Library and Museum in Boston; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, Nebraska; and William A. Farnsworth Library and Art Museum, Rockland, Maine.


Wyeth is a participating lender for the United States Department of State, Art in Embassies Program. He holds honorary degrees from Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania (1975); Dickinson School of Law, Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania (1983); Pine Manor College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts (1987); University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont (1988); and Westbrook College, Portland, Maine (1993).

Copyright: Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Dana Gioia

Dana Gioia is an internationally acclaimed poet and writer. Former California Poet Laureate and Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, Gioia was born in Los Angeles of Italian and Mexican descent. The first person in his family to attend college, he received a B.A. and M.B.A. from Stanford and an M.A. from Harvard in Comparative Literature. For fifteen years he worked as a businessman before quitting at forty-one to become a full-time writer.

In addition to the American Book Award and Poets’ Prize, Gioia has won many awards including the Laetare Medal from Notre Dame, Presidential Citizen’s Medal, Aiken Taylor Award in Modern Poetry, and Walt Whitman Champion of Literacy prize. He has been awarded ten honorary doctorates.

Gioia has been an important advocate for the arts and arts education. From 2003 to 2009 Gioia served as the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts where he helped create and launch the largest programs in the agency’s history, including Poetry Out Loud, The Big Read, Shakespeare in American Communities, and Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience.

Gioia also served as the California State Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2019. During his tenure he became the first laureate to visit all 58 counties of California. His statewide tour became the subject of a BBC Radio documentary.

In Washington, Gioia created a bipartisan majority in Congress to raise the NEA budget each year of his Chairmanship. He was twice confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate. Business Week magazine called him “The Man Who Saved the NEA.”

Schedule for the Evening

5:30-6:30 PM VIP Reception
Sally and George Mayer Foyer—Linda L. Bean Center

6:00-7:00 PM General Reception
Kirby Hall Patio

7:30-10:00 PM Dinner Program
Diana Davis Spencer Foundation Hall—Linda L. Bean Center

10:00-11:00 PM Afterglow
Kirby Hall Patio

Event Details

Date:
Friday, May 2, 2025

Time: 5:30-11:00 PM

Dress: Black Tie

Location:
The Linda L. Bean Center
3901 Centerville Road
Wilmington, DE 19807

Hotel Accommodations

Location:
Staybridge Suites
1220 N Market Street
Wilmington, DE 19801

Accommodations: ISI has reserved a room block at the Staybridge Suites. When you are reserving your room, please use the code ISI to book your reservation with our courtesy block. Staybridge Suites is a 4-minute walk from our shuttle pick-up/drop-off location at the Hotel DuPont.

Note: Since Hotel DuPont is our shuttle pick-up/drop-off location, we encourage you to try booking a reservation at the Hotel DuPont; however, we do not have a courtesy block to offer at this time.

Shuttle Details

There will be a shuttle running continuously between the Hotel DuPont and our ISI campus starting from the Hotel DuPont at 5:00 PM.

The last shuttle will leave ISI around 11:00 PM.

The Hotel DuPont

42 W 11th St

Wilmington, DE 19801

Individual Tickets

Secure your individual ticket for ISI’s 18th Annual Gala for Western Civilization for $500.

This ticket includes the opening reception, an extravagant dinner, and a thought-provoking keynote address from Dana Gioia!

After the keynote address, enjoy a lively afterglow with drinks and conversation, surrounded by like-minded individuals passionate about preserving the Western tradition.

More than just a simple gathering—your individual ticket gives you the unique opportunity to participate in an exclusive night of community and intellectual discourse.

Space is limited so reserve your ticket today!

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