American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) hosted its annual Spring Gala on Thursday, May 16, 2024 at the Metropolitan Club in New York City! At this year’s event, ASF paid tribute to three distinguished Guests of Honor: Craig Dykers and Elaine Molinar of Snøhetta, a world-renowned integrated architecture, landscape architecture and design company based in NYC and Oslo, and Thor Thors, Jr., one of ASF’s longest-serving Executive Trustees.
Highlights this year included the presentation of the Niels Poulson Award to ASF Thor Thors, Jr., in recognition of his extraordinary dedication and devotion to the mission of ASF for half a century; and the presentation of the ASF Cultural Award to Craig Dykers, an ASF Advisory Trustee since 2012, and Elaine Molinar, in recognition of their unique architectural vision and achievements in building cultural bridges that promote Nordic design aesthetics and values through their work in the United States and abroad.
The evening also included a performance by soprano Emily Richter, the 2024 recipient of ASF’s Birgit Nilsson Award and the 2024 Grand Finalist winner of the Eric and Dominique Laffont Metropolitan Opera Competition. All proceeds of ASF’s Spring Gala benefit the Foundation’s continuing initiatives to promote cultural and education exchange between the United States and the five Nordic countries: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden.