Water Mill - The Watermill Center will once again bring together the worlds of theater, art, fashion, design and society for the 17th Annual Watermill Summer Benefit: "Paradiso." Benefit artists and Watermill residents from over 20 different countries will create six acres of installations and performances that will interpret this year's theme bringing guests closer to paradise.

Beginning at 6 p.m. on July 24, the evening will include cocktails provided by Bacardi, a silent auction, performances, art installations, dinner, dancing and a live auction hosted by auctioneer Simon de Pury. Celebrity DJ Touch of Class will once again provide music to end the evening with everyone dancing under the stars in the auction tent. This year's silent and live auction will include over 70 lots from emerging and established artists including Marina Abramovic, David Adamo, Carol Bove, Rosson Crow, Martin Eder, Tim Eitel, Shepard Fairey, Tierney Gearon, Pierre Huyghe, Anselm Kiefer, Annie Leibovitz, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Otto Piene, Pipilotti Rist, Erik Schmidt, Taryn Simon, Ena Swansea, Spencer Tunick, and vRobert Wilson.

Paradiso will be the most heavenly event this summer and will inspire the fashion, as it is the dress code for the evening. It will be a true festival of the arts and performance all to benefit Watermill and it's mission to provide a unique environment for young and emerging artists to explore new ideas and foster their career development.

Honorary Chairs: Marina Abramovic, Jane Adams, Pedro Almodóvar, Laurie Anderson, Bernard Arnault, Alec Baldwin, David Bowie and Iman, Steve Buscemi, Kim Cattrall, Helena Christensen, Chuck Close, Bob Colacello, Alan Cumming, Willem Dafoe, Christophe de Menil, Baroness Philippine de Rothschild, Marianne Faithfull, Jonathan Safer Foer and Nicole Krauss, Frank Gehry, Philip Glass, Nan Goldin, Zaha Hadid, H.R.H. Princess Caroline of Hanover, David Hockney, Jenny Holzer, Isabelle Huppert, Bianca Jagger, Norah Jones, Donna Karan, Harvey Keitel, Annie Leibovitz, Jessye Norman, Graham Norton, Charlotte Rampling, Lou Reed, Keith Richards, Tim Robbins, Isabella Rossellini, Salman Rushdie, Sharon Stone, Viktor & Rolf, Dita von Teese, Rufus Wainwright, Christoph Waltz.

Marina Abramovic, Alec Baldwin, Harvey Keitel, Salman Rushdie, and Rufus Wainwright have already confirmed their attendance.

Benefit Chairs: Shaikha Paula Al-Sabah, Lisa Anastos, Wallis Annenberg, Susan Baker and Michael Lynch, Monique Barbier-Mueller, Kelly Behun Sugarman and Jay Sugarman, Sandra Brant and Ingrid Sischy, Canyon Ranch Living - Miami Beach, Jean-Paul Claverie, Paula Cooper and Jack Macrae, Lisa de Kooning, Adelaide de Menil and Ted Carpenter, Wendy and Roger Ferris, Anke and Juergen Friedrich, Barbara Goldsmith, Audrey and Martin Gruss, Gary Hattem, Anne Hearst McInerney and Jay McInerney, Maja Hoffman and Stanley Buchthal, Carola and Robert Jain, Calvin Klein, Dorothy Lichtenstein, The Honorable Earle I. and Carol Mack, Alison Mazzola, Richard Meier, Princess Alexandra of Greece and Nicolas Mirzayantz, Nancy Negley, Lisa and Richard Perry, Maria Pessino, Tatiana and Campion Platt, Katharine and William Rayner, Leila and Melville Straus, Ellen and Stephen Susman, Christine Wächter-Campbell and William I. Campbell.

Contemporary Chairs: Valerie Boster, Martin Dawson, Amanda Hearst, Dalia Oberlander, Moises de la Renta.

Contemporary Committee: Genevieve Bahrenburg, CeCe Barfield, Georgina Bloomberg, Marissa Bregman, Nick Brown, Annie Churchill Albert, Peter Davis, Zani Gugelmann, Julie Henderson, Cena Jackson, Genevieve Jones, Terence Koh, Allison Lubin, Josephine Meckseper, Karline Moeller, Jon Neidich, Richard Phillips, Taryn Simon, Dani Stahl, Luigi Tadini, Andrea Tese, Arden Wohl.

Tables start at $10,000, dinner tickets at $1,000. For tickets, call 212-253-7484. For more information contact Natascha Theis Benefit PR & Special Events at natascha.theis@robertwilson.com or go to www.watermillcenter.org.

International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) announced that it will be creating a one-of-a-kind fragrance to benefit The Watermill Center with 100 bottles to be auctioned off at the 17th Annual Watermill Summer Benefit. An additional 10 bottles will be sold and presented in a handmade bottle designed by Robert Wilson and resident artists of the Watermill Center. The Annual Watermill Summer Benefit event is one of the most anticipated events of the summer season and this year's theme Paradiso promises to be one of its most exciting. Every year, Watermill brings together the worlds of theater, art, fashion, design and society with artists and residents from more than 25 different countries to create six acres of installations and performances that will interpret this year's theme bringing guests closer to paradise.

IFF senior perfumer Loc Dong creates a scent to immortalize the evening, inspired by the enriched experience and unique ambience of the Center and the evening as well as collaborating with three of the invited artists on their installations. Born in Saigon and a leading perfumer for more than 17 years, Loc Dong has created signature scents for an exclusive list of internationally renowned design houses and companies, including Giorgio Armani, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, Calvin Klein, Versace and Estee Lauder. This is Loc's first time to create a scent specifically for an event experience of this visionary nature. IFF worked with Prolitec Inc. for their diffusion systems allowing them to showcase the Watermill Paradiso scent at the benefit.

"As an artist, this is an extremely exciting opportunity for me," says Loc Dong, Senior Perfumer, IFF. "It is not often that we can collaborate with such a wide variety of artists all under one roof and I am so happy to be a part of this wonderful artistic experience."

Beginning at 6 p.m., the evening will include cocktails provided by Bacardi, a silent auction (100 bottles Watermill Paradiso to be sold), performances, art installations, dinner, dancing and a live auction hosted by auctioneer Simon de Pury which will include the 10 one of a kind fragrance and bottle. Celebrity DJ Touch of Class will once again provide music to end the evening with everyone dancing under the stars in the auction tent.

"I am extremely excited to collaborate again with IFF and to realize our first project together at Watermill", says Robert Wilson, Founder and Artistic Director, The Watermill Center. "To me theater encompasses all senses. Scents can help us see and hear and open an interior space."

This year's silent and live auction will include over 70 lots from emerging and established artists including Marina Abramovic, David Adamo, Carol Bove, Rosson Crow, Martin Eder, Tim Eitel, Shepard Fairey, Tierney Gearon, Pierre Huyghe, Anselm Kiefer, Annie Leibovitz, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Otto Piene, Pipilotti Rist, Erik Schmidt, Taryn Simon, Ena Swansea, Spencer Tunick, and Robert Wilson.

About The Fragrance
Discover the extraordinary powers of WM Paradiso through the forces of this sublime creation. The Perfumer, Loc Dong, inspired by the wealth of cultural diversity and artistic brilliance at Watermill uses innovative scent architecture to capture this magical ambience.

The core of the scent is defined by the musky aura of Ambrette seeds mixed with incandescent Cashmeran to evoke paradoxical sensations of freshness and warmth. Elements of blood Rose infused with Kaffir lime leaves bring a shocking explosion of erotic energy that suffuses the senses with outerwordly sensuality.

Key ingredients; Ambrette seeds LMR, Cashmeran IFF, Rose absolute Bulgaria LMR, Kaffir lime leaves.