Baxter St’s Benefête Brings the Party to Rockaway Beach

On June 18, New York’s creative community came out to Rockaway Park to attend Baxter St on the Rock, the 137-year-old photographic arts incubator’s fourth annual fundraiser to support its Workspace Residency Program, exhibitions, grant-making program, and conversation series. The event was held safely across 16,000 square feet of outdoor space at the newly built Rockaway Hotel with live performances by Black Thought, a DJ set by Questlove, Menahan Street Band, KIRBY, Derrick Adams, and Dave Guy. This year’s festivities honored Harper’s Bazaar editor in chief Samira Nasr, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, and the emerging photographer Elliott Jerome Brown Jr. To celebrate the occasion, Baxter St alum Ivan Forde also unveiled a 90-foot-long mural on the hotel’s facade. Attendees included Shantell Martin, Zoe Buckman, Titus Kaphar, Kennedy Yanko, Rashid Johnson, and more. Photos by Sansho Scott/BFA.