On October 18th, Royal Oak commemorated its 45th Anniversary at the Metropolitan Club of New York. The two-part event began with the 19th Timeless Design Dinner which dovetailed with the 3rd annual Follies cocktail party.
The dinner program celebrated Rizzoli’s new release: The Country House: Past, Present, Future: Great Houses of The British Isles. The 430-page book features many National Trust properties and was a collaboration with Royal Oak and the National Trust. Sir David Cannadine and Jeremy Musson, the book’s co-editors, and Robert Sackville-West, 7th Baron Sackville, joined BBC World News America anchor and correspondent Laura Trevelyan in an exchange about the past, present and future of the country house.
Follies followed dinner as additional guests socialized and danced to a festive musical arrangement curated by David Kelleher-Flight.
Thoughtfully-curated décors by Lady Henrietta Spencer-Churchill and Sarah Magness enhanced Follies and the dining tables, respectively. Royal Oak’s 2015 Damaris Horan fellow, Justin Kegley, projected his aerial films of Stowe and other National Trust landscapes. Acclaimed London-based illustrator and designer Luke Edward Hall created the artwork for the program and invitation.
Special Guests included Lord and Lady Sackville, Lynne Rickabaugh, Susan and William Samuelson, Robert and Julie Daum, Renee and Alan Tucei, Thomas Kelly, Brian Dolan, Betsy Shack Barbanell, Michael A. Boyd, Tracey Dedrick and Alastair Merrick, Susan Ollila, Ronald L. Fleming, Lady Catherine St. Germans, Colleen A. Murphy, Caroline Barnard, Emily and David Beal, Friederike Biggs, Sandy Meehan, Mitchell Owens, James Reginato, Gabriella Skok and Mally Skok, Kerry and Brian Tucei, Arete S. Warren, Imogen Lloyd Webber. Follies Co-Chairs were Emily Collins, Robbie Gordy, Austin Mill and Lansing Moore, Jr.
Sponsors were Rizzoli, Magness Design, Spencer-Churchill Designs, Debevoise & Plimpton, Albion, Holland & Sherry, RoseHyll Studio, Hyde Park Mouldings, Pennoyer Newman, and A.D. Mill PR.
The Royal Oak Foundation is the American affiliate of the National Trust of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and raises awareness and funds in the U.S. to support historic preservation. HRH The Prince of Wales is the National Trust’s royal patron and president.
The Arts Arena hosted its inaugural New York Benefit Gala, Vive les Artistes, on Friday, October 26th in the Terrace Room at The Plaza Hotel. The Arts Arena expects to raise $500,000 this year to support the non-profit organization’s mission of presenting the quality performances, film screenings, exhibitions, festivals, lectures and conversations with cultural luminaries to the public free of charge.
This year’s benefit honored five exceptional visionaries and leaders in the arts: Mikhail Baryshinkov, James Ivory, Dena Kaye, Robert Storr, and Robert Wilson. Presenters included: Lucinda Childs, Agnes Gund, Mark Morris and Sam Waterston. The Honorable Jane D. Hartley, US Ambassador to France from 2014-2017, served as the Honorary Gala Chair.
The evening included a Champagne reception followed by a seated dinner, piano performance by Nikolay Khozyainov, presentation of the honorees, and a flash auction.
The Arts Arena is a non-profit multidisciplinary initiative for the visual, literary, and performing arts, film, and issues of culture and society. Founded in Paris in 2007, The Arts Arena is driven by a deep belief in the power of the arts to have a positive impact on society. Uniquely, Arts Arena performances, film screenings, exhibitions, festivals, lectures and conversations with cultural luminaries are free and open to the public, thus giving access to the highest caliber of artists to the broadest and most diverse audience, regardless of income. To date, it has produced over 250 cultural events in Paris, London, and New York.
Photographs by Annie Watt (Royal Oak); BFA and Julie Skarratt (Arts Arena)
