The summer's benefits took advantage of the carefree season with innovative, whimsical tropes. A Chicago fund-raiser for cancer research—a serious cause if ever there was one—had giant balloons floating above highboy tables, while a Las Vegas-area benefit for brain health had bronco riding and watermelon-eating contests. In the Hamptons, guests supported the arts as a unique piece of performance art saw a couple being splattered with blue paint; in New York, a benefit for Citymeals-on-Wheels served appetizers that were unsubtly inspired by the campy classic Jaws.
Here's a look at these and other ideas from high-profile benefits that took place throughout the country and in Canada this summer.
Ravinia Music Festival
Ravinia music festival celebrated its women's board's 50th anniversary at a black-tie gala in July. After a performance from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and singers including Patti Lupone, guests had dinner in a tent lavishly decorated by Event Creative. At the entrance, designer Jeffrey Foster created a custom wooden canopy of trees inspired by Ravinia's logo.
Photo: Patrick Gipson/Ravinia Festival
Carlson Wagonlit Travel "Thrive in Retro" Event
The Global Business Travel Association hosted its annual conference in Boston in late July, and participating company Carlson Wagonlit Travel hosted an after-party at Symphony Hall on a Tuesday night. Benefiting Project Step, the event was produced by Kuoni Destination Management had a "Thrive in Retro" theme inspired by Mad Men. Models dressed in sleek, '60s-style outfits and carried retro-style cocktail trays with specialty drinks such as classic Manhattans and sloe gin fizzes.
Photo: Courtesy of Kuoni Destination Management
Carlson Wagonlit Travel "Thrive in Retro" Event
At Carlson Wagonlit Travel's late July gathering, snacks matched with the retro theme. Served in spoons, on square plates, and in decorative bowls, menu items included assorted deviled eggs, Caesar-salad spring rolls, and BLT-stuffed tomatoes.
Photo: Courtesy of Kuoni Destination Management
Harris Theater Gala
On June 26, the Paris Opera Ballet performed Giselle at the Harris Theater in Chicago. Drawing on the ethereal, ghostly set of the famous ballet, designer Bill Heffernan of HMR Design Group brought a moonlit-forest look to the tent that housed the ensuing gala in Millennium Park. Large, transparent cubes decorated with projected branch patterns hung overhead in the dining space, while ferns and white freesia topped the tables.
Photo: Bob Carl
The Shedd Aquarium's Luminscence Gala
For the Shedd Aquarium’s Luminescence gala in Chicago, a Shedd trainer holding a penguin modeled an auction prize, a pendant that was inspired by the Chicago institution’s beaux arts clock.
Photo: Courtesy of John G. Shedd Aquarium
Lincoln Park Zoo's Zoo-ologie
The Lincoln Park Zoo's auxiliary board hosted its second Zoo-ologie on the tiger- and lion-filled grounds in June. The carousel stayed spinning until 11 p.m., proving to be a popular attraction—and, it turns out, a competitive one. Guests playfully raced toward the creatures they wanted to ride, shouting out dibs on the swan, the cheetah, and the frog.
Photo: Jaclyn Simpson
Washington National Opera Ball
The Washington National Opera Ball was held at the United Arab Emirates and, consequently, had an Arabian theme. After walking through a series of Arab pergolas, guests entered the embassy's grand portico, which featured a 23-foot starburst lantern lit by candles that the Kennedy Center built for the event.
Photo: Margot Schulman
Chefs' Tribute to Citymeals-on-Wheels Gala
The 27th annual Chefs' Tribute to Citymeals-on-Wheels took over the rink at New York's Rockefeller Center in June. With a cinematic theme, renowned chefs created dishes inspired by their favorite movies, including Jaws, The Perfect Storm, and The Godfather.
Photo: Nadia Chaudhury/BizBash
Kiehl's Amfar Ride Finish-Line Wrap Party
Kiehl's 10-day philanthropic motorcycle ride along the Eastern Seaboard wrapped up with a finish-line party July 20 at the Kiehl's Georgetown store. The event, which raised awareness for H.I.V./AIDS research and resources, had motorcycle-inspired decor and cuisine including a dessert display from Georgetown Cupcake.
Photo: Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Kiehl's Since 1851
The Parrish Art Museum's Midsummer Party
In the Hamptons, the Parrish Art Museum's Midsummer Party included dinner in an ornate tent. Overhead, a leafy projection and twinkling rope lights contrasted with a more high-tech lighting rack, which produced a dancing effect.
Photo: Patrick McMullan/PatrickMcMullan.com
ArtHampton's Jackson Pollock Centennial
On July 13, ArtHamptons celebrated the centennial of Jackson Pollock's birth—and raised funds for the Jackson Pollock Lee Krasner Study House—with an event that included a performance art installation of a couple getting paint thrown at them.
Photo: Michael Heller
Fashion As Art Exposed
Fashion as Art Exposed, a fund-raising event in support of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection, took place in Ontario in June. To showcase the work of Canadian designers—and to underscore the theme of fashion as art—organizers posed models in giant frames.
Photo: George Pimentel
The National Ballet of Canada's Diamond Gala
The National Ballet of Canada celebrated its 60th anniversary in June. During the reception, which had a specialty vodka cocktail called "Diamonds in the Skyy," ballerinas danced and stretched casually amid the guests.
Photo: Gary Beechy
Keep Memory Alive's Shakespeare Ranch Rodeo
In July, Keep Memory Alive hosted its Shakespeare Ranch Rodeo in Nevada. The summery event included bronco riding, barrel racing, and kids' watermelon-eating contests.
Photo: Dalia Photography
City of Hope Gala
For the City of Hope "Spirit of Life" gala in Los Angeles, Namevents turned a parking lot adjacent to Geffen Contemporary at MOCA into a dinner space meant to evoke a high-end nightclub. Guests sat in lounge areas with plush couches and blankets, and dinner was served on glass tables with programmable LED bases. On some tables, tall glass vases designed by Chris Matsumoto were filled with water and stones in colors that echoed the hues on the invitation.
Photo: Line 8 Photography. All rights reserved.
Cedars-Sinai Women's Heart Center Gala
At Barbra Streisand's summer fund-raiser for the Cedars-Sinai Women's Heart Center in Malibu, guests helped themselves to a raw fruit and veggie bar. In place of a tablecloth, organizers used a quilt to match the vintage-inspired aesthetic of the June 14 event.
Photo: Alex Berliner for AbImages
Watermill Center Summer Benefit
On July 28, some 1,200 guests headed out to the Watermill Center in the Hamptons for the art organization’s annual benefit, one of the season’s biggest draws for philanthropists. Inside the dinner tent a chandelier positioned over the dance floor was made up of plastic recycling bags and pink fabric streamers.
Photo: Billy Farrell/BFAnyc.com
Chefs in Shorts
Apparently, a little rain doesn’t dampen the allure of a summer barbecue. On June 22, Boston’s "Chefs in Shorts" benefit for Future Chefs drew some 900 guests who sampled grilled snacks from 38 local eateries while hoisting umbrellas. At the booth from Bond at the Langham Hotel, soaked-but-undaunted staffers busily prepared sliders and champagne cocktails.
Photo: Bethany Versoy/V2Visuals
The Chicago Botanic Garden's Summer Dinner Dance
On June 22, the Chicago Botanic Garden celebrated its 40th anniversary at the annual Summer Dinner Dance. For the tent, designer William Heffernan of HMR Design Group created what he called "an impressionistic painting of a pink rose garden." The tent had a color scheme of raspberry, red, and white, with thousands of roses in different shades of pink.
Photo: Bob Carl for Chicago Botanic Garden
The Lincoln Park Zoo Ball
The Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago gave its annual summertime ball a "Great Cats-by" theme this year. To channel the interior of a grand East Coast estate described in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel, Frost's David Kelly worked with designers from Event Creative to hang a cluster of ornate chandeliers form the top of the dinner tent.
Photo: Alain Milotti
The Lincoln Park Zoo Ball
The Village People made a somewhat random—but definitely appreciated—surprise appearance at the Lincoln Park Zoo Ball. A band member lead locals through the appropriate steps to the "Y.M.C.A.," and the iconic group also performed "In the Navy." Guests danced enthusiastically along.
Photo: Bob Carl
The Justice Ball
Toast produced the Justice Ball (a fund-raiser for nonprofit Bet Tzedek) at the Book Bindery in Los Angeles. The event had a speakeasy theme replete with roving flappers, prop barrels, and a bar that was cheekily referred to as the "Juice Joint."
Photo: Courtesy of Toast
Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery's Power Ball
Kobo was a sponsor of the June Power Ball at Toronto's Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, where guests could also indulge the child inside. The brand dangled e-readers from a tree in one of the event's main areas, and nearby, guests could take a ride on a swing that read "Take a Moment to Breathe."
Photo: Josh Fee for BizBash
The Boys & Girls Club's Summer Ball
At the Boys & Girls Club's Summer Ball in Chicago, HMR Design Group created lounge areas in the same space where the dinner was held. The residential-feeling areas had zebra-striped throw pillows, tufted leather seating, and lighting from candles and oversize lamps.
Photo: Bob Carl
American Cancer Society's Skyline Soiree
The associate ambassador board of the American Cancer Society hosted its Skyline Soiree at Chicago's River East Art Center in July. Playing off the society's tagline—"the official sponsor of birthdays"—the whimsical event had a birthday-party theme replete with giant balloons floating above bars and in place of floral centerpieces on tables.
Photo: Jenny Berg/BizBash
![Si201911281908[81]](https://img.bizbash.com/files/base/bizbash/bzb/image/2024/10/SI201911281908_81_.67180220c35e2.png?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&h=167&q=70&w=250)
