NEW YORK — The third annual “Art Rocks” party, curated by Emmett Shine & James Cruickshank of the LOLA New York Gallery, was held at the Bowery Hotel in NoHo last Thursday, featuring a top selection of emerging artists — some of whom got their MFA from Yale, like Patrick McElnea ART ’08.

Each artist showcased a selection of their work for one night only, and each piece was for sale, with all proceeds going to benefit the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center at Columbia University. Photographer Tim Barber exhibited the “White Witch” from his “Virgin Snow” series: “The inspiration lies within the Blair Witch movie,” he said, laughing. This was definitely the best piece of the show for me: the black and white photo vividly captures the angst and mystery emanating from an imaginary forest. In my eyes Barber’s tales from the wild are the coolest.

Shine, one of the co-curators, added: “We want to create a platform for our friends to express their taste and talent. But we do a lot of different things.”

“A lot of different things” might be an understatement: Shine is also head of Gin Lane Media (a creative brand development company), a great photographer, a fashion designer, and the star of a film about LOLA to be released in a few months.

As a curious and elegant guest, the young sculptor Rochelle Goldberg commented: “When Art is about generosity, we are able to see true character.”

Character or no character, aesthetic charm predominated Thursday evening; after seeing my astonishment at the bright-faced and beautiful guests, Barber simply remarked: “It’s charity, man!”