For its annual fund-raising gala, the Miami Art Museum zoomed its donors and supporters into the future with a tented, Zen-chic gala at Miami's Bicentennial Park. The location, overlooking Biscayne Bay, is where the publicly funded museum will soon break ground for its new complex, Museum Park.
"We wanted to bring people to [the site of] Museum Park to celebrate the amazing possibilities," said MAM director, Suzanne Delehanty. "The museum is part of Miami, which is a great big creative community."
Delehanty hired Barton G. Weiss , president of Barton G., to design the party. Weiss created an elegant two rooms enhanced by sculptural floral creations along with bamboo and steel accents in a 100- by 230-foot tent. Among the 800 guests were local politicians, developers, art collectors, and artists.
Guests entered beneath a 10-foot-tall moss-covered tree festooned with wild willow and purple orchids. During the reception, a silent auction took place in a sumptuous powder blue room as the New World Jazz Ensemble played. A dramatic row of orchids and hydrangeas in four-foot-tall clear vases lined one side of the tent, while across the way, light columns with sleek modern silhouettes bathed the room in white light.
In the dining room guests sat at spectacular tables with dramatic six-foot-tall floral sculptures that featured calla lilies and cattleya orchid stalks tied with leather straps atop bamboo and twisted steel frames. At the base, smooth stones and white orchids spilled onto brown overlays. Lump crabmeat in illuminated glass ice globes was served with ahi tuna as a starter. The main course was New York strip steak with foie gras mashed potatoes. Desserts included petit fours and samplings of sorbet served in clear cylindrical flute-like dessert dishes.
—Juan Carlos Rodriguez
"We wanted to bring people to [the site of] Museum Park to celebrate the amazing possibilities," said MAM director, Suzanne Delehanty. "The museum is part of Miami, which is a great big creative community."
Delehanty hired Barton G. Weiss , president of Barton G., to design the party. Weiss created an elegant two rooms enhanced by sculptural floral creations along with bamboo and steel accents in a 100- by 230-foot tent. Among the 800 guests were local politicians, developers, art collectors, and artists.
Guests entered beneath a 10-foot-tall moss-covered tree festooned with wild willow and purple orchids. During the reception, a silent auction took place in a sumptuous powder blue room as the New World Jazz Ensemble played. A dramatic row of orchids and hydrangeas in four-foot-tall clear vases lined one side of the tent, while across the way, light columns with sleek modern silhouettes bathed the room in white light.
In the dining room guests sat at spectacular tables with dramatic six-foot-tall floral sculptures that featured calla lilies and cattleya orchid stalks tied with leather straps atop bamboo and twisted steel frames. At the base, smooth stones and white orchids spilled onto brown overlays. Lump crabmeat in illuminated glass ice globes was served with ahi tuna as a starter. The main course was New York strip steak with foie gras mashed potatoes. Desserts included petit fours and samplings of sorbet served in clear cylindrical flute-like dessert dishes.
—Juan Carlos Rodriguez
Barton G. Weiss created a sumptuous Zen-inspired atmosphere in a tent for the Miami Art Museum's annual ball.
Lump crabmeat served in illuminated ice globes awaited diners in the main dining room.
The reception area featured a silent auction in a brightly lit powder blue room.
Skewers of seared sesame tuna were passed with a fountain of soy sauce.
