Paintbrush Ball 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Brandon Hayes
312.944.2418 ext. 236
bhayes@marwen.org
(Media inquiries only)
PAINTBRUSH BALL 2009 WAS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL
FUNDRAISING EVENT IN MARWEN HISTORY
***Marwen Teamed with Design Firm Gensler to Create
an Evening that Inspired and Entertained Guests***
(Chicago, IL - June 4, 2009) Paintbrush Ball 2009 raised awareness of Marwen's mission to provide inspiration, art, and opportunity for under-served Chicago youth. In the process, it became the most successful fundraising event in Marwen's 22-year history, raising over $650,000. The evening incorporated fine dining and exciting live and silent auctions with six art-making stations. The 530 guests were invited by Marwen teaching artists and students to participate in digital photography, sculpture, graffiti art, digital video, and portraiture. The Gensler-designed event took place on Saturday, May 30, 2009 at 6 pm in two tents adjacent to Marwen's River North facility. Inside the Marwen building, the exhibitions Teaching @ 22 and Alumni @ 22 showcased art produced at, and inspired by Marwen.
"We are thrilled that so many individuals and corporations responded to Marwen's mission as it came to life through Paintbrush Ball," said Marwen's Director of Development and Communications Mary Jane Keitel. "The ability to create a record-breaking event in the current economic climate is a testament to the commitment and generosity of our supporters, particularly Paintbrush Ball's four amazing co-chairs, the event's corporate sponsors, and the inspiration of the Gensler team."
Paintbrush Ball's host committee was co-chaired by Marwen Board President Bryan Traubert and his wife Penny Pritzker, and Marwen Board Member Deborah Quazzo and her husband Stephen Quazzo. The presenting sponsor was U.S. Cellular, and the lead sponsors were DLA Piper and RISE. Gensler was the Creative Design Sponsor; American Airlines was the Official Airline Sponsor; Unisource is Marwen's Official Paper Sponsor.
About Paintbrush Ball
To make this year's Paintbrush Ball unique, Marwen teamed with the global design and architecture firm Gensler---which provided its services pro bono---to create a gala that allowed guests to personally experience the creativity that occurs every day at Marwen. In the cocktail tent---festooned with reproductions of work created at Marwen---guests could peruse the student work for sale in a small curated exhibition, mingle with other guests, or relax on vintage mid-twentieth-century furniture.
Guests were invited to participate in art-making activities at six different stations---from an impromptu portrait studio to a digital photo booth. Guests could paint an image on a wall of graffiti art or create the monumental, 3D paper cutout sculpture that became the chandelier above the dining tent's stage.
The tables in the dining tent surrounded the central stage, above which hung a circular drum screen. Throughout the evening, videos and images---many created during Paintbrush Ball by students, teaching artists, and guests---were projected onto the screen. The theme of the three varieties of Gensler-designed tabletop centerpieces was illumination: the larger tables boasted wood and neon light boxes with inspiring words such as SING, LIVE, and CREATE, while the smaller tables held glowing Lucite boxes adorned with images of student art or wire globes filled with light bulbs.
Guests enjoyed an elegant three-course dinner catered by Limelight. The first course featured white bean salad with crisp pancetta and fresh oregano, avocado and wild watercress salad, and cumin-scented carrot salad. The entrée was grilled achiote chicken breast over a tomato, chili and mint confit with a Swiss chard potato cake and braised green beans with roasted garlic cloves. The fanciful dessert was a lemon, blood orange, and Génoise tower topped with a meringue starburst.
During the dinner's first course, Gary Metzner of Sotheby's conducted a live auction with items including a week's stay at a villa in Majorca, Spain won by Scott Goldfarb, a trip to the modern art mecca of Marfa, Texas won by Larry Levy, and wine tasting parties hosted by John Svoboda won by Bryan Traubert and Jennifer Aubrey. Guests also participated in a silent auction for such items as a Babolat tennis racquet signed by Rafael Nadal and won by Adam Aron, a week's stay in a stunning townhouse in the heart of Beaver Creek, Colorado won by Lyndon Taylor, and an assortment of fine wines. The auctions raised over $150,000 to support Marwen's programs.
About the Exhibitions
In Marwen's Steven and Susan Berkowitz Gallery, the exhibition Teaching @ 22 celebrated the art of learning at Marwen. Teaching @ 22 pairs artwork by Marwen teaching artists and their students. Written statements accompanied the work and describe how teacher and student have influenced each other. The teaching artist selected the student work for each pairing.
In the second-floor Alumni Gallery, Alumni @ 22 showcased a diverse selection of artwork by former Marwen students. The exhibition represented a variety of media, stages of their artistic careers, and regions of the country.
About Marwen
Founded in 1987, Marwen is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the development of Chicago's under-served youth in grades 6-12 through free visual arts, college planning, and career preparation programs. In a typical year, students from 54 of the city's 57 zip codes and from more than 220 schools travel to Marwen, where they work under the guidance of professional teaching artists to build high-level technical, creative, and communication skills. Marwen offers a regular roster of college preparation courses and workshops, an intensive pre-college summer program, study trips to college campuses across the country, and unlimited individualized counseling sessions. Other opportunities for Marwen students include art-based career planning courses and workshops, paid employment opportunities, an internship program that provides on-the-job training, and an annual career day during which students meet professionals from a broad spectrum of fields, including architecture, graphic design, arts education, and filmmaking.
Marwen is located at 833 North Orleans Street, Chicago, Illinois 60610. The phone number for general inquiries is 312.944.2418. Marwen is on the internet at www.marwen.org.
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Images: Joseph Palmer (with the exception of the fourth from the top, credit: Marwen)
