NONPROFITS AROUND TOWN: Life was a masquerade at the Fine Arts Center Gala
Venetian noblemen and their elegant ladies stepped from their carriages and swept up the stairs to the grand hall in a flurry of feathers and pearls, and satin and velvet, faces covered with intricate artwork masks.
Ah, the mystery.
The masquerade ball — with modern nuances — stepped from Shakespearean theater, pre-Lenten revelry and Bellini operas into the Fine Arts Center last weekend as the middle of three days of festivities.
The Venetian Carnivale celebration had started with an intimate Collector Dinner Sept. 24 at the home of patron Kathy Loo. A “Taste of Colorado” gourmet dinner was combined with a viewing of Loo’s extensive Colorado art collection.
Two nights later many of those art lovers were mask-bedecked as they joined merrymakers at the bal masqué Venetian Carnivale Gala.
Sipping Bellinis, the reception’s signature drink, arrivals strolled the airy hallways and courtyard, entertained by roaming masquers including a teetering stilt walker, a flashy fire spinner, a gentle flutist and a tricky magician/juggler.
Squeals of merriment were a signal that someone had just realized who was disguised behind one of the glittering masks flown in from Venice.
After buffet dinners in the first-floor galleries, it was off to the long hallway outside the Deco Lounge for mask-wearer-friendly miniature ice cream cones and other tiny desserts, as well as dancing in a Café 36-turned nightclub.
Gala honoree was The Wine Festival of Colorado Springs, which has raised $300,000 for the FAC over the past four years. The 2010 wine fest is March 5-6. Saluted were Festival chair Elizabeth Youngquist, Emily Adams, Denise Bac, Brian Bennett, Nancy Borden, Cindy Cohn, Kris Faricy, Dan Ferguson, Connie King, Jim Little, Chelle Mason, Cathy Matthews, Peggy McKinlay, Wendy Pearce Nelson, Russ Noblett, Monika Randall, Jean Marie Stoval and Michelle Talarico.
The gala's presenting sponsor was American National Bank.
Receiving compliment after compliment for their work on the locally unique evening were gala chair Amanda Mountain, creative director Anne Marie Pacitto, Jill Johnson, Lisa Amend, Karole Campbell, Cathy Coleman, Megan Fisher, Jennifer George, Ann Giambalvo, Martha Marzolf and Meredith Wardwell.
Entertainers included a costumed musical group from the Colorado Springs Conservatory, fire spinner David Hale, magician Richard Kwesell, artist Douglas Rouse, flutist Juliette Angoulvant, stilt walker Marie Angoulvant, circus performer Dustin Ordway, mandolin player Charles Prignano and drummer Zach Parrinella.
The Venetian revelry continued Sunday, when kids and families made their own masks, decorated hats, painted faces and participated in other activities for Family Day.
The three events drew more than 400 people and raised $71,500 for the arts center.
