Centerpieces

In January 2016, the Walrus Foundation hosted its annual gala at the Fermenting Cellar in Toronto. The event paid homage to the Canadian city, and the skyline appeared in imagery at the bar, on the walls, and more. Tabletops were decked with miniature renderings of the Toronto skyline, created in paper by artist Kalpna Patel.

At Diffa Chicago’s Dining by Design in November 2015, Wolf Gordon by the Gettys Group’s table had a "fireplace" that was actually made of illuminated water vapor.

The Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum's Butterfly Ball, held in Chicago in May 2013, had a farm-like atmosphere. Playing off the event's “Savour Nature” theme, which highlighted the new exhibition “Food: The Nature of Eating,” Event Creative brought in vegetable-centric decor. Tables were decked with miniature gardens potted with tomatoes, colorful peppers, asparagus, and kale; around the centerpieces, fairy lights in miniature Mason jars added to the elegant yard-party vibe.

At an October 2016 dinner for Culture Lab Detroit, designer David Stark took inspiration from Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen's Cosmopolitan Chicken Project, a multimedia examination of chicken breeding. More than 80 dozen eggs in open egg cartons formed a simple but effective centerpiece for the 55-seat table. After the party, the eggs were donated to the Oakland Avenue Urban Farm.

At a film benefit honoring Quentin Tarantino, held in December 2012 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the museum’s in-house event department adopted a monochromatic, masculine look. A mix of round and rectangular clear Lucite tables formed the dinner setup in the atrium. The sleek look was matched by clear chargers and ghost chairs; clusters of pillar candles replaced flowers as centerpieces.

David Stark and his team designed the sixth annual Brooklyn Museum's Artists Ball, which took place in April 2016 at the New York museum. Inspired by Constantin Brancusi’s sculptures, particularly the “Endless Column,” Stark transformed the space with towering totems made from stacked rolls of household and industrial paper goods. They rose from the dining tables in varying heights, up to a soaring 21 feet.

Hunger-relief organization Food Bank for New York City celebrated its annual Can Do Awards Dinner in April 2018 at Cipriani Wall Street. The star-studded gala, which saw performances from Salt-N-Pepa and Kid Capri, had simple yet sleek centerpieces designed by Swoop that evoked the city’s skyline.

For the National Geographic Society’s June 2013 anniversary celebration in Washington, D.C., Syzygy Events International used custom glacier ice sculptures as on-theme centerpieces.

To celebrate the public opening of the Broad in Los Angeles in September 2015, event producer Ben Bourgeois was inspired by the art museum’s unique design. Laser-cut paper foldouts as tabletop centerpieces represented the architecture of Grand Avenue and surrounding buildings downtown, including Disney Hall and the new Broad. LED lights illuminated the representations of the buildings so they appeared to glow from within.

At Diffa Chicago’s Dining by Design in November 2013, the Coalesse table, designed by Gensler, had subtle twinkle lights and a wishbone pattern swirling on its walls. The table's centerpiece was a dense arrangement of wishbones, laid over a row of softly glowing electric candles.

The Robin Hood Foundation celebrated its 30th anniversary May 2018 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. The benefit, which had a “Lights of New York” theme, had three-sided mini marquee centerpieces that offered messages of gratitude and celebrated the organization's anniversary. David Stark Design and Production designed the event.