LOS ANGELES, CA.- Actor Owen Wilson chatted with artist Ed Ruscha. Artist Kara Walker spoke of art and activism. k.d. lang brought the house down singing “Hallelujah.”

It was Ann Philbin’s final gala as she prepared to step down after 25 years as the director of the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles, an institution she transformed into a contemporary art destination, helping reshape the city’s art scene. The crowd that toasted her accomplishments Saturday night was a testament to the strength of that scene: major artists, Hollywood royalty, well-heeled collectors and fellow museum directors.

Even the celebrity roast was A-list. “I know we are all gathered here to sing the praises of Annie Philbin,” actor Will Ferrell said during dinner. “I, for one, am not. I hate the fact that I’m here — can’t stand this place.”

The Artists

“She would put artists at the table at galas like this before we were who we were,” artist Mark Bradford said from the stage. “She would bring you into the room; she would sit you at the table; she’d give you a little wink, like, well, it’s on you now.”

In a testament to Philbin’s strong relationships with artists, many turned out for the event Saturday, including Barbara Kruger, Charles Gaines, Jennifer Guidi, Glenn Ligon, Rodney McMillian, Mary Weatherford and Jonas Wood.

Walker told Philbin that she considered “it an honor to have stirred the pot with you. We struck a nerve.” Painter Lari Pittman said Philbin remained “devoted to the sociopolitical idea that culture only trickles up.” Sculptor Robert Gober described how the Hammer under Philbin had risen “from gray corporate ashes to become a real vibrant cultural center.”

Hollywood Royalty

The star-studded crowd attested to Philbin’s ability to harness the power of Hollywood. Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw were there, along with Jane Fonda, Keanu Reeves, Ava DuVernay, Bette Midler and Jane Lynch.

The evening raised $2.5 million.

Fellow Museum Directors and Curators

After dinner, many of Philbin’s museum director peers ended up rocking out together to a DJ set by D-Nice: Michael Govan of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Joanne Heyler of the Broad; Johanna Burton of the Museum of Contemporary Art; Anne Ellegood of the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Sandra Jackson-Dumont, director and CEO of the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art; Hamza Walker of LAXART; as well as Katherine E. Fleming (president and CEO) and Timothy Potts (director) of the Getty.

Directors who had come from out of town included Thelma Golden of the Studio Museum in the Harlem section of New York City; Matthew Teitelbaum of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and Jessica Morgan of the Dia Art Foundation.

And curators included Connie Butler, now director of MoMA PS1, and Jeffrey Deitch.

Critic and curator Hilton Als said Philbin’s smile “has conquered a thousand ships, some skeptical donors, a number of seemingly intractable curators and jumpy artists over a career framed by the power of your conviction that things must change in order for the cultural ecosystem to continue to grow, so our hearts can grow.”

Darren Walker, the president of the Ford Foundation, said Philbin “has taught us a lesson that creativity comes often from places and spaces we aren’t looking.”

Art Collectors Turn Out

Among the collectors in attendance were Beth Rudin DeWoody, Lauren Taschen, Dee Kerrison, Komal Shah and Lynda Resnick. During the cocktail hour, Resnick along with her husband, Stewart, and full-time curator, Bernard Jazzar, went into the open galleries to see “Only the Young: Experimental Art in Korea, 1960s — 1970s.” Collector Lyndon J. Barrois Sr. wore a coat featuring a Basquiat design on the back.

Protests Outside

The Hammer is part of UCLA, where recent protests have ended in violent clashes, and there was a protest outside the gala. Jodie Foster, who welcomed the crowd along with her wife, photographer Alexandra Hedison, noted in her remarks “how important it is to have the shared space through the arts to engender and support thoughtful, respectful debate and dialogue.”

Philbin also mentioned the protests.

“The Hammer has always sought to bring people together, to educate, to build empathy and understanding, to respectfully challenge the status quo and to build a diverse community,” she said. “We will continue to do that, of course, but most importantly, we will defend the sacrosanct rights of freedom of expression and the right to peacefully protest.”

Parting Words

Philbin likened herself to a cauldron, carrying soup from the kitchen to the table.

“I realized that I was not destined to be an artist, creator and maker of the soup,” she said, “but rather to be a vessel that brought the bubbling, boiling, churning food to the table to feed and nourish the people.”

Philbin ended on a personal note, thanking her wife, Cynthia Wornham, a marketing and communications executive, and promising that — while she did not know what her next step would be after she leaves in November — “I am going to learn how to cook.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.