In anticipation of the 2010 Whitney Gala, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong and Whitney Museum of American Art director Adam D. Weinberg invited artists, curators, and supporters to an intimate dinner at Casa Lever to celebrate AOL's new partnership with the museum. Chuck Close, who recently made a series of large-scale Polaroid portraits of Alec Baldwin, Gus Van Sant, Claire Danes and others for the AOL Originals website, was honored at a center table, while judges for AOL's 25 for 25 Grant Program, including Christian Viveros-Faune and Rafael de Cardenas, were seated throughout the room. Speaking to guests at the start of dinner, Armstrong confidently stated, "AOL will turn around, but it will turn around based on creativity." Artists Aurel Schmidt, Tom Sachs, Andres Serrano, Aaron Young, Gregory Crewdson, and Doug and Mike Starn  applauded that concept and then sat down to a meal served  under the watchful eyes of such 20th century innovators as Robert  Mapplethorpe and Gianni Versace, captured in the Andy Warhol portraits that decorate the restaurant.—PAUL LASTER