Oysters and Martinis at Rashid Johnson’s Pool Party in The Hamptons

On a quiet road in East Hampton, N.Y., on Saturday evening, cars pulled up outside the artist Rashid Johnson’s home as a pool party kicked off inside the property. Exiting the cars, handing off keys to valets, was a procession of art-world players, philanthropists and socialites wearing sun hats.

The gathering at Mr. Johnson’s majestic country home was a fund-raiser celebrating the 50th anniversary of Creative Time, a public art nonprofit that has produced projects like Kara Walker’s “A Subtlety, or the Marvelous Sugar Baby” at the Domino Sugar factory and “Tribute in Light,” which commemorated the Sept. 11 attacks with two towering beams of light.

Wearing white sneakers and white pants, Mr. Johnson savored a moment’s peace in his living room as guests started streaming into the house. Its walls were lined with works by Sam Gilliam, David Hammons and Bob Thompson, as well as some of his own works and those of his wife, Sheree Hovsepian.

Mr. Johnson collaborated with Creative Time in 2021 to produce “Red Stage,” a festival-like music and cultural gathering held during the pandemic in Manhattan’s East Village as the city opened back up, and he reflected on the significance of the organization’s 50th anniversary.

“Creative Time lets artists dream big without confinement,” Mr. Johnson said. “It allows artists to challenge the public with works of scale and to be given the public space to engage society in discourse. Artists trust it because of that.”

As artists like Sanford Biggers, Robert Longo, Joel Mesler and Jill Magid sauntered into the pool party, the evening grew lively.