This week, Swizz Beatz was honored at the 2013 Gordon Parks Foundation Awards at the very swanky Plaza Hotel. 

Swizz was joined by his friend Carmelo Anthony, who came out to support him on his special night. Estelle and Sofia Vergara were also in attendance. “First of all, being honored in a good way is a great thing, especially outside of music. And for this amazing foundation to pick me as an honoree with Gordon Parks is amazing. I’m just happy to be here,” Swizz told TheSource.com on the red carpet.

To Swizz, Parks was ” a renaissance man, artist, visionary, groundbreaker.” Like Parks, the MC is into photography as well. “I do mixed media in my artwork, so I use my photos and my paintings sometimes sort of like Peter Beard.”

Carmelo Anthony is also in to art, he said, “Yes, I’m big into the art world. I’m still learning about a lot of different artists. So as far as collecting some art, I’m trying to take my time and get some art that I feel genuine towards.”

Fashion Designer Donna Karan was also honored at the gala. On the red carpet, she spoke about her work in Haiti and she continues to lend her support to the recovering country. Karan told The Source that she admires Parks because “he put his soul and his spirit into everything that he did and he put it out there in the world and I feel that’s our social responsibility.”