Children’s graffiti normally isn’t found on the walls of the Ritz Carlton Tysons Corner's grand ballroom, but for this year’s YouthAIDS benefit on Friday, guests will find exactly that. The event, dubbed “The Power of Music,” is enlisting the help of graffiti artist turned fashion designer Claw Money, who worked with local kids through a nonprofit called Words, Beats & Life to create large panels of graffiti which will be hung over black velvet draping in the ballroom.
“Graffiti has always been closely tied to music,” YouthAIDS deputy director Marshall Stowell said today. The musical theme will be hard to miss—not only will a large tour bus and a fake punk band be parked outside the hotel’s entrance, but tattoo stations, rock and roll-themed drinks, and Rock Band video game stations will be set up throughout the reception and auction areas.
Stowell, who is overseeing the event, explained that YouthAIDS has always used music to reach at-risk populations. “Many people in the 60 countries where we operate are illiterate or of low-literacy,” he explained. “We bring in DJs and street music and dance to educate them on the HIV risk and direct them to clinics.”
Other than the panels of graffiti, the ballroom, designed by David Tutera again this year, will feature low-hanging industrial lightbulbs over the dance floor and Lucite cubes and simple floral arrangements on the tables. The evening’s after-party, called “In the Band Suite,” will again feature members of the faux punk band, this time lounging on a bed amongst scattered lingerie, pizza boxes, and empty Jim Beam bottles in the hotel’s Old Dominion room.
The event, which we recently named one of Washington's Top 100 Events, boasts a strong V.I.P. list, with Ashley Judd hosting, Sharon Osbourne as the M.C., and honorees like Annie Lennox and Judy McGrath, the C.E.O. of MTV. YouthAIDS announced late last week that John Mellencamp, whom Stowell calls “an activist in his own right,” will be the evening’s featured entertainer.
