The ballroom at the Liberty Grand Entertainment Complex was packed with a crowd of 2,500 guests for the sold-out "Motionball" gala in support of the Special Olympics Canada Foundation on February 6. For the event's 14th year, the planning committee decided on a “Glitz and Graffiti” theme. According to Marsha Doucette, manager of national events and operations for Motionball for Special Olympics, “the theme was brought to life by a few committee members who discussed playing up the contrast between two rooms at Liberty Grand.” Ultimately, the event reflected a mixture of old Hollywood glamour and modern-day, Miami-style graffiti.
In the Artifacts Ballroom, a 130-square-foot art gallery featured fine art and street art. Artists including JessGo, Jimmy Chiale, and Jay Soule among others attended the event and painted live. “We wanted to transform [the ballroom] to feel like the streets of Toronto and had live DJs spinning all night in here,” Doucette said. With DJ Skratch Bastid and the Great Grantsby spinning, the room had the feel of a hopping nightclub.
However, Hollywood-style glam was just a room away in the Governors Ballroom, which was decked with crystal chandeliers, red carpet, and elegant drapes. “We wanted attendees to feel like two worlds had collided: red carpet met the underground for a fun, rewarding, and memorable night,” Doucette said. In a third ballroom, a silent auction space offered prizes such as platinum tickets to the Rogers Cup and WestJet tickets to anywhere in North America.
Adding more space to the event's footprint allowed planners to accommodate more guests this year. The gala's $250,000 fund-raising goal was met with the help of in-kind donations and ticket sales, in addition to silent-auction proceeds.
Correction: This piece previously identified the event host as Special Olympics Canada; the gala is in support of the Special Olympics Canada Foundation. The text has been updated.
