De Re Gallery hosted “The Art of Friendship” Benefit Photo Auction for Best Buddies International on Thursday, March 3. In one of art’s most prominent galleries, this opening was the most desired event of the night. Celebrity guests and Best Buddies Global Ambassadors showed up to support the groundbreaking nonprofit, founded in 1989 by Anthony K. Shriver to establish a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Hosted by Entertainment Tonight’s Nancy O’Dell and actress Lauren Potter, who are both Best Buddies Global Ambassadors, photographic artwork was donated to the Best Buies Collection and auctioned off to support the organization’s mission of friendship and social inclusion for people with IDD. Notable attendees include Cindy Crawford, Anthony Shriver, Jason Lewis, Michael Cudlitz, Lauren Potter, Namoi Grossman, Charisma Carpenter, Kelly Hu, Stephanie Bauer, Anna Diop, Claudia Black, Maria Quezada and more.

The festivities included food, signature cocktails provided by Casamigos Tequila, merriment, and most of all, friendship. Photographs by world-renowned and emerging photographers including Herb Ritts, Brian Bowen Smith, Bruce Weber, Arthur Elgot, Martin Schoeller, Nick Brandt, and Greg Gorman, among others, were on display for auction.