Celebs of varying caliber in the acting, music and fashion world came out for a swanky night of hob-nobbing at the 2008 Whitney Museum of American Art Gala in NYC last night. Here are a few photos of some of the folks who made their way to the soiree in order to strut their stuff on the red carpet:

The theme for the gala was Whitney — Past, Present and Future which I assume was meant to refer to the artwork on display rather than the regular ol’ stuff we saw on the red carpet fashion-wise. Mariah Carey and her childhubby Nick Cannon made their way out to the Whitney affair last night lookin’ as mismatched as ever … tho not as mismatched a pair as Patrick Dempsey and Donatella Versace looked. Dr. McHotPants was lookin’ smokin’ in his Versace suit … Donatella just looked hungry. Christina Ricci made sure that her expensive dress was cut just so in order to show off her very classy tattoo and Juliette Lewis was most likely just there for the free drinks. Oh yeah. Sounds like a fun time in the Big Apple last night. Hurray for the Arts!

[Photo credit: INFdaily]