Celebration of Life

Co-Chairs John McGinley and Rick Froio, Honoree Leslie Harwood, Founding Chair Dario Gristina, Co-Chair Betsy Seidman, Honoree David Arena, and Co-Chair Peter DiCapua at Fountain Gallery's 7th Annual Celebration of Life.

Fountain Gallery's 7th Annual Celebration of Life was held on November 10th at the Grand Hyatt New York to benefit Fountain Gallery, the premier venue in New York City representing artists with mental illness.

The Empire Ballroom was also the exhbition venue for the 100 original artworks displayed for sale by the Gallery's 40 artists. The event honored David Arena, President of Grubb & Ellis New York, and Leslie Harwood, Managing Director of Newmark Knight Frank, with the Esther Montanez Leadership Award for outstanding service to the Gallery. Joseph Carter III Trio provided mellow jazz sounds.

Special guests who addressed the gathering included: Rep. Jerrold Nadler; Joyce Miller, Director of Real Estate Investment, New York City Comptroller(Ret.); and Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, Vice Chair of the New York State Council on the Arts.

Supporters on hand for the festivities included Silda Wall Spitzer, Jane Sadaka, Alexandra Herzan, U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis, Beth Ostrovsky, Jill Martin, Robert Gottheim, Lynn and Nick Nicholas, Anne Mai, and Carmel Fromson.

Celebration of Life, a remarkable collaboration between Fountain Gallery and the New York commercial real estate community, was founded in 2002 by Dario Gristina, Chairman and CEO of Genergy. Co-Chairs of this year's event were: Peter DiCapua, Chief Operating Officer, Atco Properties & Management, Inc.; Rick Froio, Principal, Atlas-Acon Electric Service Corp.; John McGinley, Vice President and Director of Management Services, Grubb & Ellis New York; Bruce Mosler, President and Chief Executive Officer, Cushman & Wakefield; Betsy Seidman, board member of Fountain House, the Gallery's parent organization; and Andrew Stenzler, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, Kidville, LLC. Messrs. DiCapua, McGinley, Mosler and Stenzler are past recipients of the Esther Montanez Leadership Award.

To learn more about Fountain Gallery, please visit: www.fountaingallerynyc.com [1].

Honoree Leslie Harwood, Fountain House President Kenn Dudek, and Honoree David Arena

Fountain Gallery artist Leonard Aschenbrand

David Ehrlich, Laura Ehrlich, and Honoree Leslie Harwood

Fountain House board member Lynn Nicholas and Co-Chair Peter DiCapua

Exhibition Curators Sasha Nicholas and Steven Caputo

Fountain Gallery artist Jonathan Glass

Silda Wall, Barbaralee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, and Fountain House board chair Alexandra Herzan

Fountain Gallery artist Deborah Standard

Jill Martin and Beth Ostrovsky

A week ago Saturday, the Jay Heritage Center in Rye, New York hosted its Green Gala on site for 200 guests celebrating the opening of its newly restored National Historic Landmark, the 1838 Peter Augustus Jay House, an official project of the Save America’s Treasures (SAT) Program. At a ribbon cutting, the Center acknowledged Congresswoman Nita Lowey’s role in securing a $100,000 SAT grant for funding the mansion’s new energy efficient infrastructure.

The event also included the announcement of a conservation education initiative, funded by a $12,500 grant by JHC Corporate Preservation Honoree, Con Edison; the program is called “Stewardship through Smart Choices.” After the dinner there was a cabaret performance by Nancy Anderson and Felix Swing Band.

Kris Duncan

Gala Chairs Suzanne and Rich Clary

Renate Gleysteen

Ellen and Pierre Jay de Vegh

Sandra Miller of Con Edison, Senator Suzi Oppenheimer, and Kitty Aresty

Joseph Singer, Ellen Kelsey, and Mish Tworkowski

Nancy Anderson

Eric and Patti Fast

Patricia and Jesse Lovejoy

Peter and Allison Rockefeller

More than 500 guests attended this year’s Joan’s Legacy: Uniting Against Lung Cancer “Strolling Supper with Blues & News” to raise money for lung cancer research. NBC News Anchor Brian Williams hosted the event at The Allen Room and Atrium of Frederick P. Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, which was emceed by ABC News Anchor Bill Ritter. The night commemorated Lung Cancer Awareness Month in New York City with a strolling supper, gourmet wine and spirits, and a remarkable silent auction.

ABC-7 News Anchor Bill Ritter with ABC's Rebecca Campbell and David Sloan

Bill Pierson, Robin Skolnick, and Felicia Patinkin

Joan's Legacy Board Member Tess Wachs with Carol Weisman

Wendy Levine with Joan's Legacy Board Members Raymond Chalme, Mary Ann Tighe, and Jonathan Mechanic

Makeup Artist Laura Geller with Joan's Legacy Board Members Daisy Holmes and Mary Ann Tighe

Joan's Legacy Executive Director Susan Mantel with Muriel and Michael Lipit

Ray O'Keefe with Maureen and John Clancy

Stacey Kelz and Cory Zelnik

Joan's Legacy Board Member Roxanne Donovan with NBC's Brian Williams

Joan's Legacy Development Director Gretchen McGarry with Genevieve LaBean and Jesse Angelo

Joan's Legacy Founding Board Members Tom Scarangello and Patrick McNeive

Erin and Craig Reicher

Arnold Gamberg and Leslie Harwood

David Young and Elizabeth Noble Young

Delbert McClinton and Yvette D'Elia

Last Wednesday afternoon, New Yorkers For Children and the Empire Hotel Rooftop hosted the 6th Annual “Wrap to Rap” -- an afternoon of wrapping gifts for youth in foster care in New York City, on. DJ D-Nice spun the hip hop classics with a special musical performance by Sean Kingston. The NYFC Board and Friends Committee joined 100 teens in foster care to wrap toys and gifts for younger children in foster care. The wrapped gifts will be distributed by the Administration for Children’s Services to children in foster care throughout New York City.

In addition to providing much-needed holiday gifts for children in care, Wrap to Rap serves to remind teens in foster care of the importance of volunteerism and giving back to their community.

This year’s Wrap to Rap was underwritten by Jeffrey Chodorow’s Empire Hotel Rooftop, and our generous 2008 sponsors include: 3-M, Post-It, L’Oreal, Bonne Bell, Sony BMG, Kid Robot, Harajuku Lovers, Godiva, Alternative Apparel, Avon, The Whitney Museum, Physicians Formula, Condé Nast Portfolio, Random House, Omnivore, Commonwealth Packaging Company, The Metropolitan Museum, Benefit Cosmetics and MTV which donated the popular game, Rock Band.

Among the NYFC Friends Committee participating in the "Wrap" were Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, Rachel Roy, Alina Cho, Soledad O’Brien, Zani Gugelmann, Marisa Brown, Susan Burden, Susan Shin, Stephanie LaCava, Julie Macklowe, Maggie Betts, Kelly Sugarman, Lydia Fenet, Allison Aston, Fabiola Beracasa, Adelina Wong Ettelson, Beth Rudin DeWoody, Valesca Guerrand-Hermes, Melinda Williams, Coralie Charriol Paul, and nearly 200 teens in foster care.

Mario and Rachel Roy

Monique Betton and Marisa Arredondo

Allison Aston

Amy McFarland, Marisa Brown, Ulrica Lanaro, and Marisa Arredondo

Alina Cho and Maino

Sean Kingston and Amy McFarland

Valesca Guerrand-Hermes

Melina Williams and DJ D Nice

Zani Gugelmann

Sean Kingston and Mario

Sean Kingston and DJ Kelo

Zani Gugelmann, Alina Cho, and Maino

Andrea Scoppetta

Susan Shin and Marisa Arredondo

Ulrica Lanaro and Maggie Betts

Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta and Julie Macklowe

DJ Kelo, Sean Kingston, and Janice Turner

LL Cool J wrapping gifts at Wrap to Rap

Young people wrapping gifts

Zhanna Raymond

Parsons The New School for Design honored Mario Buatta, class of ‘61, with the third Centurion Award for Design Excellence at a dinner in his honor at the Mandarin Oriental New York.

The Centurion Award recognizes Parsons alumni and industry leaders who have significantly contributed to society through their work in design. Previous honorees are Albert Hadley ’49 and Betty Sherrill ’51 of McMillen, Inc. Mr. Buatta was presented with the award by the actress Arlene Dahl, and also serenaded by Christopher Mason with a song written especially in his honor.


	Tim Marshall, Arlene Dahl, and Mario Buatta

Among those celebrating were designers Jamie Drake ’78 and Victoria Hagan ’84. Proceeds from the event will help to fund student scholarships in a new Master of Fine Arts in Interior Design launching at Parsons in 2009.

One of America’s foremost decorators, Mario Buatta was born in New York, studied architecture at Cooper Union, and attended Parsons. He is well known for his exciting use of color—which has often been compared to that of Matisse and Bonnard—and also for a style he describes as “the Undecorated Look.”

According to Buatta, “A house should grow in the same way that an artist’s painting grows; a few dabs today, a few more tomorrow, and the rest when the spirit moves you.”

Mr. Buatta, known by one and all as Mario, started his own firm in 1963. Since then, his list of private clients has included Henry Ford II, Malcolm Forbes, Barbara Walters, Nelson Doubleday, Mariah Carey, and S.I. Newhouse. He has also redecorated Blair House—the official White House Guest House in Washington D.C. His work has been highlighted in publications such as Architectural Digest, Town and Country, the New York Times, Avenue, Quest, New York, USA Today, House Beautiful, the Washington Post, and Vogue. Credited with creating “the English country look” in America, once, Mario appeared on the cover of Manhattan, Inc. wearing a suit made of chintz. The corresponding headline read, “The Prince of Chintz Ruffles New York Society.”

n addition to designing, Mario also lectures and consults on decorating issues and if you’ve never heard one of his lectures, you’ve missed a laff riot, as they say in Variety. An active member of the community, he serves on the boards of the East Side House Settlement and New York City’s Historic House Trust. He has also served on the boards of the Fashion Institute of Technology, the Royal Oak Foundation, the Decorative Arts Committee at the Cooper Hewitt Museum, and the Kips Bay Boys and Girls Club.

Christopher Mason serenading Mario with a song written especially in his honor.

Here's a verse ...

The truth is plain, dear little Mario,
We’re quite alarmed for your career;
Although you’re burning, yearning, mad to decorate,
We think you better wait,
‘cause everything you do we hate!
You’ve odd ideas, dear little Mario,
Although we all think you’re a prince,
Your chosen future
Plainly doesn’t suit ’ya,
Although we are charmed,
We’re very alarmed
With your obsession with chintz!

Click here [4] for the song in its entirety.

Parsons The New School for Design established the first interior design program in the nation in 1906. Since that time, the school has educated nearly five generations of industry heavyweights including Sheila Bridges, Thomas Britt, Melvin Dwork, Lulu de Kwiatkowski, John Lijewski, and Van Day Truex. Parsons BFA and—launching in Fall 2009—MFA in Interior Design programs respond to the demand for professionals who can confidently move a project from a theoretical, visually represented, idea-based concept through detailed technical resolution.

Interior design students study the history and theories underlying contemporary interiors while focusing on materiality, color, and the decorative arts. Working in close collaboration with the architecture, lighting design and product design programs, students are provided with the opportunity to explore these professional relationships to prepare them for direct entry into the field. Parsons Interior Design faculty includes such leading professionals as Stella Betts, Wid Chapman, Kitty Hawks, David Ling, Calvin Tsao and Alfred Zollinger.

An optional semester in Paris, internships, design competitions, and showcase opportunities in New York City prepare students for a future in residential, contract-commercial or hospitality design, design management, design journalism and education, and other challenging options. For more information, please visit www.parsons.newschool.edu/sce. [5]