First, the 500 guests at Dia Center for the Art's annual fall gala enjoyed cocktails and hors d'oeuvres in the lobby of Dia: Chelsea, where the green walls and citrus-colored floor tiles of green, yellow and orange provided the only decor necessary.
Then, braving the evening's rainy weather, they hopped across the street to Dia's annex for dinner and found the fresh green theme continued. The walls of the raw space were painted a bright, grass-colored green and dotted with four large video screens projected with Dia artist Robert Whitman’s video work "Notes For Not a Novel."
"Vibrant color is what people need right now," said Kevin Calica, who served as Dia’s event designer for the second year in a row (last year he was still under the corporate tutelage of Calvin Klein; he left the company in August to start Kevin Calica Presentation). Calica and Dia director of external affairs Laura Raicovich worked with MF Productions’ Melissa Feldman to plan and produce the event, which benefits the foundation’s exhibitions and public and educational programming. "We wanted to do something really simple and beautiful," Raicovich said. "A couple of different installations in the museum used green, so it seemed appropriate to take inspiration from there."
White linens and dishes and green votive candles accented the dinner tables, where Glorious Food served a menu of gravlax with cucumber salad, lamb ragout en croute, fall vegetables and petit fours. And after dinner, guests moved up a few blocks to Glass for an after-party.
––Erika Rasumusson Janes
Read about last year's Dia benefit...
Then, braving the evening's rainy weather, they hopped across the street to Dia's annex for dinner and found the fresh green theme continued. The walls of the raw space were painted a bright, grass-colored green and dotted with four large video screens projected with Dia artist Robert Whitman’s video work "Notes For Not a Novel."
"Vibrant color is what people need right now," said Kevin Calica, who served as Dia’s event designer for the second year in a row (last year he was still under the corporate tutelage of Calvin Klein; he left the company in August to start Kevin Calica Presentation). Calica and Dia director of external affairs Laura Raicovich worked with MF Productions’ Melissa Feldman to plan and produce the event, which benefits the foundation’s exhibitions and public and educational programming. "We wanted to do something really simple and beautiful," Raicovich said. "A couple of different installations in the museum used green, so it seemed appropriate to take inspiration from there."
White linens and dishes and green votive candles accented the dinner tables, where Glorious Food served a menu of gravlax with cucumber salad, lamb ragout en croute, fall vegetables and petit fours. And after dinner, guests moved up a few blocks to Glass for an after-party.
––Erika Rasumusson Janes
Read about last year's Dia benefit...
At the Dia Center for the Art's fall gala, Kevin Calica Presentation decorated the dining room with white tablecloths and chair slipcovers surrounded by grass-green walls.
The all-white tables were dotted with the event's green programs and votives in green glass cups.
Glorious Food served hors d'oeuvres inside Dia: Chelsea's lobby.
Rows of grass were painted on the walls of Dia: Chelsea's lobby walls.
