Friday, July 17 at 8 p.m. in the Dryden Theatre
Octavia Spencer, photo by Art Streiber
Tickets are on sale now for the July 17 ceremony and gala where actress Octavia Spencer will accept the George Eastman Award for her distinguished contribution to the art of cinema.
The ceremony will feature an appreciation of her career by Peter Bagrov, senior curator, Moving Image Department, a compilation of highlights of her work, and an on-stage conversation with Spencer—to be followed by a celebratory gala in the museum.
- Date: Friday, July 17, 2026
- Location: George Eastman Museum, 900 East Avenue Rochester, NY 14607
- Time:
- 8 p.m. Award Ceremony in Dryden Theatre
- 9 p.m. Gala in Potter Peristyle, Concourse, and Eastman Mansion
- Features:
- Music by The Uptown Groove
- Elegant desserts, wine, champagne, soft drinks
- Cocktail attire / black tie optional
All tickets for the George Eastman Award fundraising event include reserved seating for the award ceremony, admittance to the gala, and valet parking.
- Patron ticket: $400
- Supporter ticket: $250
- Friend ticket: $175
- Fan ticket: $125
Octavia Spencer’s performance as Minny in The Help (2011) earned her an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, BAFTA Award, Golden Globe Award, SAG Award, and Broadcast Film Critics’ Choice Award, among numerous other accolades. She has since received Academy Award nominations for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Hidden Figures (2016) and The Shape of Water (2017). She served as an executive producer on the critically acclaimed drama Green Book (2018), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture–Musical or Comedy.
Additional acting credits include Fruitvale Station (2013), for which she was awarded Best Supporting Actress by the National Board of Review; Snowpiercer (2013); Luce (2019), which brought an Independent Spirit Awards nomination for Best Supporting Female; Get on Up (2014); The Shack (2017); Apple TV+’s Spirited (2022); and voice roles in Zootopia (2016), Dolittle (2020), and Onward (2020).
Visit eastman.org/eastmanaward2026 for more information and to purchase tickets.
Sponsorship
7Crest Financial Partners is the generous Major Sponsor of the event.
About the George Eastman Award
The George Eastman Award was established in 1955 as the first award to recognize the enduring artistic value of the oeuvre of a film actor, director, or cinematographer. The first two presentations of the award in 1955 and 1957, known as the Festival of Film Artists, were a tribute to the legends of the silent film era (1915–1930). Since then, the George Eastman Award has honored a range of actors, directors, and cinematographers.
About the George Eastman Museum
Founded in 1947, the George Eastman Museum is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the largest film archives in the United States, located on the historic Rochester estate of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography. Its holdings comprise more than 450,000 photographs, 31,000 motion picture films, the world’s preeminent collection of photographic and cinematographic technology, one of the leading libraries of books related to photography and cinema, and extensive holdings of documents and other objects related to George Eastman. As a research and teaching institution, the Eastman Museum has an active publishing program, and its L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation’s graduate program (a collaboration with the University of Rochester) makes critical contributions to film preservation. The George Eastman Museum is supported with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. For more information, visit eastman.org.
Related
