At this year's auction and party hosted by AIDS nonprofit Bailey House, event designer Geoff Howell found a clever and budget-friendly way to use paper and balloons to create a striking visual element. Strips of plain white paper spray-painted with images of iconic New York City buildings hung from helium-filled weather balloons, forming five panoramas overhead. The whimsical touch added to the 69th Regiment Armory for the event on Wednesday, February 23, was devised to fill the vast empty space created by the venue's 130-foot-high ceiling as well as highlight the pavilions that held the items up for bid.
To construct the pieces, Howell and his team rented a space in Brooklyn, laying out the rolls of 36-inch-wide paper to carefully paint windows, architectural features, and other details to images of the High Line, Chrysler Building, and an Edward Hopper painting-inspired scene complete with a 30-foot water tower. A total of 225 inflatables, sourced from Balloon Saloon and each spanning three feet in diameter, held up the scenic pieces, the tallest of which depicted the Empire State Building and measured 80 feet high.
The annual benefit for Bailey House was hosted by designer Carmen Marc Valvo and The View's Sherri Shepherd and raised more than $500,000 for its program, which provides housing and support services to homeless men, women, and children living with HIV/AIDS.
