The American Folk Art Museum used its "Self and Subject" portraiture exhibition as inspiration for its benefit, tying the theme to both the entertainment and an auction.
To play up the subject matter of the exhibit, Katie Hush, the museum’s special events manager, hired silhouette artists Deborah O’Connor and Andrea Peitsch to roam during dinner and cut out folk-inspired portraits. JKS Events coordinated the rest of the details, hiring Silver Screen Media to photograph guests poking their heads from cutouts of large reproductions of work from the museum’s collection. On a more metaphysical note—some works in the show deal with unorthodox and unusual themes—a roaming palm reader interacted with guests, as did J. B. Benn, a magician who performed sleight-of-hand tricks. For a majority of the event’s 58 silent auction items, the museum gave wide-framed mirrors to a variety of artists, who added folksy patterns, landscapes, and mystical imagery (the idea being that mirrors capture a portrait in the form of a reflection).
The event’s decor was treated with equal whimsy by Renny and Reed—summery umbrellas spanned over tables with colorful lanterns suspended from their interiors. Tables were covered with linens in alternating lime green and vibrant red.
Another nice touch was the short covered walkway erected in front of the museum and decorated with rows of potted topiaries. The walkway covered the path from the museum’s reception spaces to a large tent erected in a neighboring lot for dinner, giving guests some privacy from sidewalk traffic and some fresh air on the searing hot day.
Canard Inc. prepared a cocktail menu that included wild mushroom and pinenut strudels and smoked salmon, crème fraiche, and caviar served on buckwheat waffles. For dinner, guests dined on mango gazpacho with grilled tiger shrimp and a chicken breast marinated in citrus juices with fresh herbs.
—Mark Mavrigian
Related Stories
Warhol Inspires Dia Benefit in Beacon
Celeb Handcrafts at New Art Museum
To play up the subject matter of the exhibit, Katie Hush, the museum’s special events manager, hired silhouette artists Deborah O’Connor and Andrea Peitsch to roam during dinner and cut out folk-inspired portraits. JKS Events coordinated the rest of the details, hiring Silver Screen Media to photograph guests poking their heads from cutouts of large reproductions of work from the museum’s collection. On a more metaphysical note—some works in the show deal with unorthodox and unusual themes—a roaming palm reader interacted with guests, as did J. B. Benn, a magician who performed sleight-of-hand tricks. For a majority of the event’s 58 silent auction items, the museum gave wide-framed mirrors to a variety of artists, who added folksy patterns, landscapes, and mystical imagery (the idea being that mirrors capture a portrait in the form of a reflection).
The event’s decor was treated with equal whimsy by Renny and Reed—summery umbrellas spanned over tables with colorful lanterns suspended from their interiors. Tables were covered with linens in alternating lime green and vibrant red.
Another nice touch was the short covered walkway erected in front of the museum and decorated with rows of potted topiaries. The walkway covered the path from the museum’s reception spaces to a large tent erected in a neighboring lot for dinner, giving guests some privacy from sidewalk traffic and some fresh air on the searing hot day.
Canard Inc. prepared a cocktail menu that included wild mushroom and pinenut strudels and smoked salmon, crème fraiche, and caviar served on buckwheat waffles. For dinner, guests dined on mango gazpacho with grilled tiger shrimp and a chicken breast marinated in citrus juices with fresh herbs.
—Mark Mavrigian
Related Stories
Warhol Inspires Dia Benefit in Beacon
Celeb Handcrafts at New Art Museum
At the American Folk Art Museum’s spring gala, Silver Screen Media photographed guests posing in cutouts of portraits reproduced from the museum’s collection.
J. B. Benn interacted with guests and showed off sleight-of-hand tricks.
Renny and Reed covered dining tables with colorful umbrellas and lanterns.
A stylish effect of shielding the outdoor walkway—which led from the cocktail spaces of the museum outside to the dinner tent’s entry—was accomplished by using rows of potted topiaries.
