2022 Smithsonian Food History Gala

Smithsonian Food History Gala

2024 Gala Save the Date

Tenth Annual Food History Gala

Thursday, October 17, 2024

Join us for the tenth annual presentation of the Julia Child Award and help support the Smithsonian Food History Project! The highlight of the evening will be the presentation of the Julia Child Award by The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts to this year’s recipient, Alice Waters.

As we gather for the 10th annual Gala, we not only celebrate a decade of culinary excellence but also recognize the pivotal role the Food History Project plays in fostering a deeper appreciation for the cultural significance of what we eat. Your presence at the Gala supports the ongoing efforts to preserve, document, and share these culinary narratives, ensuring that our rich food history continues to be a source of inspiration for our millions of annual visitors.

Tickets and Sponsorships Are On Sale Now! 

Reserve your spot now for the tenth annual Smithsonian Food History Gala! Join a dynamic crowd of food professionals and enthusiasts at the nation’s history museum for a night like no other.

Tickets

Sponsorship Includes:

  • Title Sponsor listing in Gala invitation, program journal, and press releases
  • Prominent seating for two tables of eight at the Gala
  • Two-page color advertisement with prime placement in the program journal
  • Opportunity to make remarks at the Gala
  • Recognition on a donor panel located on the Museum’s main floor for one year
     

Sponsorship Includes: 

  • Platinum Sponsor listing in invitation, program journal, and press releases
  • Prominent seating for one table of eight at the event
  • Full page color advertisement with prime placement in the program journal
  • Recognition on a donor panel located on the Museum’s main floor for one year
     

Sponsorship Includes: 

  • Gold Sponsor listing in event invitation and program journal
  • Preferential seating for one table of eight at the Gala
  • Full page color advertisement in the program journal
  • Recognition on a donor panel located on the Museum’s main floor for one year
     

Sponsorship Includes: 

  • Silver Sponsor listing in event invitation and program journal
  • One table of eight at the Gala
  • Half page color advertisement in the program journal
     

Sponsorship Includes: 

  • Bronze Sponsor listing in event invitation and program journal
  • Four tickets to the Gala
  • Quarter page color advertisement in the program journal
     

Sponsorship Includes: 

  • Two tickets to the Gala
  • Museum sponsor listing in the program journal
     


 


 

 


 

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Alice Waters

About Alice Waters, 2024 Julia Child Award Recipient
Alice Waters in the Kitchen with Students by Amanda Marsalis

Alice Waters is a chef, author, food activist, and the founder and owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California, which first opened its doors in 1971. She has been a champion of local sustainable agriculture for over four decades. In 1995 she founded the Edible Schoolyard Project, which advocates for a free regenerative organic school lunch for all children and a sustainable food curriculum in every public school.

She has been Vice President of Slow Food International since 2002. She conceived and helped create the Yale Sustainable Food Project in 2003, and the Rome Sustainable Food Project at the American Academy in Rome in 2007. Her honors include election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007; the Harvard Medical School’s Global Environmental Citizen Award, which she shared with Kofi Annan in 2008; induction into the French Legion of Honor in 2010; and induction into the National Woman’s hall of Fame in 2017. In 2015 she was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama, proving that eating is a political act, and that the table is a powerful means to social justice and positive change. Most recently, Alice was awarded the honor of “Cavaliere dell’Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana” in 2019, and in 2022 she received the Henry Ford Society’s inaugural Carver Carson Award recognizing achievements and innovations in environmental protection and agriculture.

Alice is the author of sixteen books, including New York Times bestsellers, The Art of Simple Food I & II, The Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea, and, a memoir, Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook. Her newest book is We Are What We Eat: A Slow Food Manifesto.

The Julia Child Award

The Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Arts was created by Julia Child in 1995 and became operational in 2004. Its mission is to honor and further Julia’s legacy, which centers on the importance of understanding where food comes from, what makes for good food, and the value of cooking. Headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, the Foundation is a non-profit which makes grants to support research in culinary history, scholarships for professional culinary training, food writing and media as well as professional development and food literacy programs. Since becoming operational, the Foundation has made more than $2.7 million in grants to other nonprofits.

For more information on the Julia Child Award, please visit the website of the Julia Child Foundation.

 

About our programs

Julia Child Award

We hope that you will help support food history programming at the National Museum of American History. By becoming a donor, you will be supporting the important new initiatives of the Smithsonian Food History Project, which will help us to continue our paid internship program which provides mentoring and professional learning experiences to candidates from communities that are underrepresented in the museum and food history fields. Internships are an important way to build inclusive museums in the future.

 

The Food History Curatorial internship gave me the opportunity to learn about the many facets of museum work, build relationships with fellow interns and staff, collect oral histories, and contribute to museum programming, such as Cooking Up History and Food History Weekend. What I learned from during my time at NMAH continues to support my passion for telling stories through food!

Marsha Ungchusri (2019 Intern)