Leaving a Light On
Among the famous students that have passed through the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is Thomas Edison. So it was fitting that for the school's Urban Visionaries gala, overseen by Laurent Fisher, the institution's director of major gifts and donor relations, Glow Lighting & Production had a "bright" idea. Strands of globular, old-fashioned-looking bulbs with blazing bright filaments were bundled inside of glass cube-shaped vases placed on the tables of the evening's honorees. The glowing centerpieces not only served to call attention to those tables, but also tied in to the college's unique history.A Canned Idea
The Public Art Fund provides artistic inspiration to the masses with artists' projects in public spaces, and its annual benefit brought a little piece of what its artists do all over the city to guests' dinner tables. Artist Alejandro Diaz's "A Can for All Seasons" installation replicated Mexican food cans as large-scale planters along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, and the fund-raiser's centerpieces were small versions filled with silk flowers, numbered, signed by the artist, and available for sale during the event.
Branching Out
Getting kids involved was a fitting touch for Safe Horizon, a nonprofit that aids victims of abuse and their families. Molly Solomon, the organization's director of special events, worked with designer Matthew David Hopkins of Matthew David Events, who fashioned topiaries out of a mix of orange and white umbrella frames that served as faux branches. Hopkins decorated the branches with 1,500 leaves painted by children from shelters.
Kindling a Connection
The Wildlife Conservation Society is known for its role in overseeing the Central Park and Bronx Zoos (among other organizations), and to commemorate its role in preserving the American bison and the centennial of the American Bison Society, a Western feel permeated its gala. Carolyn Bakula of Grayson Bakula Design created centerpieces of sandblasted manzanita branches that resembled the wild, licking flames of a campfire and sheltered miniature elements of the Western landscape—succulents nestled in mounds of little pebbles.
Give Them Shelter
For nonprofit Homes for the Homeless' 20th anniversary at Capitale, miniature houses were a prominent (and appropriate) feature in the decor. Wolfgang Thom of Wolfgang Design worked with Jennifer Warren, the nonprofit's development associate, and Harriet Weintraub of HWPR to design centerpieces for the dinner area that had a clean and organic look, with glass frames fashioned into the simple shape of a house, an apt symbol for the organization's work building housing for those without homes.
—Mark Mavrigian
Photo: Liza Young (WCS)
Posted 08.18.06
Among the famous students that have passed through the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art is Thomas Edison. So it was fitting that for the school's Urban Visionaries gala, overseen by Laurent Fisher, the institution's director of major gifts and donor relations, Glow Lighting & Production had a "bright" idea. Strands of globular, old-fashioned-looking bulbs with blazing bright filaments were bundled inside of glass cube-shaped vases placed on the tables of the evening's honorees. The glowing centerpieces not only served to call attention to those tables, but also tied in to the college's unique history.A Canned Idea
The Public Art Fund provides artistic inspiration to the masses with artists' projects in public spaces, and its annual benefit brought a little piece of what its artists do all over the city to guests' dinner tables. Artist Alejandro Diaz's "A Can for All Seasons" installation replicated Mexican food cans as large-scale planters along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, and the fund-raiser's centerpieces were small versions filled with silk flowers, numbered, signed by the artist, and available for sale during the event.
Branching Out
Getting kids involved was a fitting touch for Safe Horizon, a nonprofit that aids victims of abuse and their families. Molly Solomon, the organization's director of special events, worked with designer Matthew David Hopkins of Matthew David Events, who fashioned topiaries out of a mix of orange and white umbrella frames that served as faux branches. Hopkins decorated the branches with 1,500 leaves painted by children from shelters.
Kindling a Connection
The Wildlife Conservation Society is known for its role in overseeing the Central Park and Bronx Zoos (among other organizations), and to commemorate its role in preserving the American bison and the centennial of the American Bison Society, a Western feel permeated its gala. Carolyn Bakula of Grayson Bakula Design created centerpieces of sandblasted manzanita branches that resembled the wild, licking flames of a campfire and sheltered miniature elements of the Western landscape—succulents nestled in mounds of little pebbles.
Give Them Shelter
For nonprofit Homes for the Homeless' 20th anniversary at Capitale, miniature houses were a prominent (and appropriate) feature in the decor. Wolfgang Thom of Wolfgang Design worked with Jennifer Warren, the nonprofit's development associate, and Harriet Weintraub of HWPR to design centerpieces for the dinner area that had a clean and organic look, with glass frames fashioned into the simple shape of a house, an apt symbol for the organization's work building housing for those without homes.
—Mark Mavrigian
Photo: Liza Young (WCS)
Posted 08.18.06