Artists and volunteers at the first annual Fete de Verre fundraiser for UrbanGlass. (L to R):Mariel Hamm, Melinda Swahn, Laura Sasseville, Jessica MacDonald, Lorrie Nicholas, and Hanna Wong. photo: kristin solomon
Trading in its annual Glassblowers Ball at Chelsea Piers for the first-ever Fête de Verre at an elegant 100-year-old bank building in downtown Manhattan, UrbanGlass made a bid to redefine what has become the standard glass fundraiser on the evening of April 16th. Awards were given, a sit-down dinner was served, and a live auctioneer took bids on donated glass artwork. But everything from the dramatic space called Capitale to the event’s theme as a glam dress-up party was new for an evening described by one of the organizers as “glitter, glamour, and girls in glass dresses.” Only 54 of the 71 lots sold, and the total of $330,000 raised before expenses was about the same as in 2009, but the event organizers were upbeat about the transformation of their annual fundraiser.
“The change of venue and aligning the event with SOFA New York was a welcome change,” UrbanGlass associate director Becki Melchione told the Hot Sheet. “Guests loved the drama and intimacy of the new space, and many came who wouldn’t normally.”
According to Melchione, 200 people attended the event. Artists Deborah Czeresko and Andrew Newbold created glass musical instruments, which were functional and actually played by UrbanGlass staff member Miguel Unson to invite guests to proceed into the dining room where Hye Rim Lee‘s video played on an overhead screen while guests found their seats.
UrbanGlass board chairman Carl Pforzheimer presenting a lifetime achievement award in honor of the late Dan Klein to Bullseye's Lani McGregor.
The evening included the presentation of UrbanGlass Awards with April Surgent recognized for New Talent, the Glass Art Society for Service to the Field, and a special posthumous award to Dan Klein for Lifetime Service accepted by Lani McGregor of Bullseye Glass.
According to Melchione, glamour was the focus of the event. “The most memorable aspect might have been the balloon wings worn by [UrbanGlass] executive director Dawn Bennett,” she says. “They were expertly crafted by glass artist Pete Waldman who usually creates fantastic hats, but who outdid himself this year.”
For 2011, the Fête is planned to go on, says Melchione: “Next year, we will continue to have it at the new venue and focus on the many uses of glass as a creative medium.”