Animal lovers had a chance to paint the town—so to speak—at an event this past weekend that gave them a brush with some serious monkey business. As a lifelike gorilla statue stood guard by the door, nearly 150 people attended “Monkey Biz,” a fund-raiser held on September 25 at Palace Station for the Jungle Friends Sanctuary, which showcased and offered for sale abstract artwork by some of its primate residents. Founded by Kari Bagnall, a former Las Vegas resident, Jungle Friends rescues monkeys from around the United States that have been retired from research labs, abused, maimed, confiscated by authorities, or kept as pets.
Inside the V.I.P. reception, trees, plants, statues of monkeys and other wild animals, a Jungle Friends videoloop, a large grass umbrella, and a tiki bar provided a jungle backdrop for the evening's main focus: 90 framed monkey paintings and photographs of the various artists on tables on one side of the room. (All frames were courtesy of Desert Sun Framing.)
“I wanted to portray the light side of ‘Monkey Biz’ with art and entertainment,” said planner Audrey Roberts, president of Las Vegas-based ARTV, an organization that focuses on the fine arts and art education. “I wanted to create a multimedia event where people could have fun and thereby get them more involved and informed about the plight of these animals."
Entertainment was provided by jazz quintet Blu7, female impersonator Rudalenska, and singers Doug Michaels, Maggie Abasani, and Lenae Huff. DJ Rick Domingues spun music for dancing.
The ape theme resonated throughout the five-hour event. Small monkey artwork sat on each of the ballroom's black-covered dinner tables. Screens on either side of a large stage ran a video loop of some of the 119 monkeys residing at Jungle Friends. Paintings of some of those monkeys by artist Matt Dunn were part of a silent auction after the show, and sat in front of the stage along with a large plush gorilla with her baby.
The dinner also kept with Jungle Friends' philosophy of teaching people to live more compassionately and to maintain a more consistent ethic. Palace Station catering department chef Aubrey Romero prepared a vegan meal of salad, polenta and grilled vegetables, and a baked apple with granola on top for dessert. At the after-party, guests sated sweet tooths with make-it-yourself banana splits made with sorbets.
