For the Brooklyn Museum’s annual fund-raising ball, held this year on April 24, Jennifer Williford, the museum’s special events manager, tapped husband-and-wife team Mark and JoBeth Ravitz of Mark Ravitz Art and Design to design the event around “Kindred Spirits: Asher B. Durand and the American Landscape,” the museum’s current exhibition of 19th-century landscape paintings of the Hudson River Valley."I contacted the director of special events at the Prospect Park Alliance and she suggested that we get in touch with them,” Williford said. “Even though they hadn’t done an event at the museum before, when we met with them and explained the theme, they came up with a terrific concept. Mark created the most fantastic models, which really gave me a sense of what the room would look like. And they’re also museum members, so it felt like a very natural relationship. What they created was so absolutely perfect for the evening.”
Working from art books and the museum’s collection, the Ravitzes transformed the museum’s Beaux-Arts Court into a woodland scene straight out of one of Durand’s paintings, complete with hand-painted birch trees, earthy centerpieces of moss and greenery, and a forest-floorlike display planted in an octagonal platform in the middle of the room.
The dinner menu, from Catering by Restaurant Associates, echoed the evening’s theme with a Hudson River Valley-inspired banquet. About 400 guests dined on sumac-crusted duck breast, veal medallions with polenta and asparagus, a cheese course featuring selections from Hudson River Valley dairy farms, and a trio of mini desserts, including warm berry cobbler with vanilla gelato. Each course was paired with wine from Millbrook Winery, the first vineyard in the Hudson River region.
During dinner, John Hays of Christie’s auctioned off an original sculpture of a burdock tree by artist Roxy Paine, raising $18,000. In total, the benefit netted an estimated half-million dollars, which will be used for educational programs.
As at last year’s ball, there was an after-party in the Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavillion with music by Brooklyn artists Shrine for the Black Madonna and the Reverend Vince Anderson, as well as DJ Rekha. About 100 additional guests paid $75 to sip cocktails and dance among the museum’s collection of 12 bronze Rodin sculptures.
—Lisa Cericola
Photos: BizBash (overhead shot), Mark Ravitz Art & Design (all others)
Working from art books and the museum’s collection, the Ravitzes transformed the museum’s Beaux-Arts Court into a woodland scene straight out of one of Durand’s paintings, complete with hand-painted birch trees, earthy centerpieces of moss and greenery, and a forest-floorlike display planted in an octagonal platform in the middle of the room.
The dinner menu, from Catering by Restaurant Associates, echoed the evening’s theme with a Hudson River Valley-inspired banquet. About 400 guests dined on sumac-crusted duck breast, veal medallions with polenta and asparagus, a cheese course featuring selections from Hudson River Valley dairy farms, and a trio of mini desserts, including warm berry cobbler with vanilla gelato. Each course was paired with wine from Millbrook Winery, the first vineyard in the Hudson River region.
During dinner, John Hays of Christie’s auctioned off an original sculpture of a burdock tree by artist Roxy Paine, raising $18,000. In total, the benefit netted an estimated half-million dollars, which will be used for educational programs.
As at last year’s ball, there was an after-party in the Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Pavillion with music by Brooklyn artists Shrine for the Black Madonna and the Reverend Vince Anderson, as well as DJ Rekha. About 100 additional guests paid $75 to sip cocktails and dance among the museum’s collection of 12 bronze Rodin sculptures.
—Lisa Cericola
Photos: BizBash (overhead shot), Mark Ravitz Art & Design (all others)
To soften the court’s four archways, Mark Ravitz Art & Design covered them with 8-to-16-foot-tall birch tree-shaped panels cut out of corrugated plastic and decorated with translucent paint. When lit from behind, the life-like trees cast an ethereal glow typical of Hudson River School works.
Planners arranged tables around the 18-foot octagonal platform (a covered non-working fountain) in the center of the court.
The pair worked with Shannon Florist to decorate an octagonal platform in the middle of the room with a small pond (created from a kiddie pool), moss, and leafy plants to create a woodsy display inspired by Durand’s works.
During the cocktail hour, the black-tie crowd mingled in the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery adjacent to the “Kindred Spirits” exhibition, so that they could tour the exhibit, as well as nosh on hors d’oeuvres.
In the Cantor Gallery, lush floral centerpieces from Sunnyside Flower Shop echoed artist Joanne Carson’s light blue floral sculpture, titled “Bouquet.”
Instead of traditional floral centerpieces in a vase, the duo arranged mosses, ferns, orchids, and branches directly on the tables.
