How did this happen? We’re already six months from the holidays, three months from Symphony/Opera openings, and minus one month from the most chock-a-block parade of parties this gal Friday has seen in a long time.
If the Fed was gauging the recovery on canapés per person, it looks like we’re back in the black . . . tie, that is. Give yourself one point (and five sit-ups) for every event that you attended in May; ten points if you were the chair, eight points if you were on the committee, five points if you bought a table, and half a point if you wore something from this season to every party. Extra points if you can call the designer who made your outfit by his/her first name; ten points if the designer calls you on your birthday. And what’s the point of it all? Raising money for good causes, raising spirits for life’s pauses, raising a ruckus for keeping schnozzes out of the air and to the good-deed grindstone. If it’s a party with a purpose, we’re party-ci-pating!
Ballet Auxiliary Fashion Show—Kor(s) Strength: The SF Ballet Auxiliary transformed its famous fashion luncheon into an elegant evening affair, with cocktails, fashion show, auction, and private
John Berggruen, Randi Fisher, and Bob Fisher at the Decorator Showcase
benefactor dinner with the designer himself. Cool-cat Kors kept the cashmere and fur flying down the catwalk with his Fall 2010 presentation, an ode to sexy sportswear perfect for Tahoe or town car. Fancy fashion fans included Auxiliary president Alison Mauze, Saks GM Cheryl Fordham, fashion show chair Patricia Rock, dinner chair Angelique Griepp, dinner sponsors Chris & Warren Hellman, Encore! co-presidents Kristen Marsh and Robin Farmanfarmaian, Maria Ralph, Kate Coffine, Jennifer Brandenberg, Lorrae Rom-inger, Beatrice Wood, Betsy Vobach, trustee Suzy Dominik, Elaine Mellis, and many more who wouldn’t have missed it, of Kors!
International Museum of Women (IMOW)—Celebrating Change: If you haven’t visited the impressive IMOW, you’re just a click away. This innovative virtual museum, headquartered in San Francisco, engages a worldwide audience to inspire action in support of women’s human rights through multimedia, multilingual exhibits including the current “Economica: Women and the Global Economy.” The annual benefit was co-chaired by Laurie Grayson, Judy Jorgensen, Regina Miranda, and Alison Carlson and featured a powerful presentation by Bisi Adeleye-Fayemi, executive director of the African Women’s Development Fund. Clare Winerton, director of IMOW, was delighted to welcome the empowered, empathetic audience to the Westfield Metreon, where presenting sponsors Anisya & Lynn Fritz, and patrons Elizabeth Colton, Mel Honowitz, Maura & Robert Morey, Deborah Santana, and Denise Allen celebrated the museum’s mission of valuing the lives of women around the world in good spirits and company.
SFMOMA—Paint by Numbers: Playful pops of plentiful pigment provided the thematic thread to SFMOMA’s 75th Birthday Party. The monumentally white fifth floor galleries became the primed canvas for the chic-set dinner, which seated artists, gallerists, philanthropists, and other important “ists” at long church supper–style tables, each place setting and chair decorated with a different Pantone color scheme. Diners adjourned downstairs to the Birthday Bash, awash in bright colors, bright lights, and bright nightlife luminaries on the birthday beat. Seven superabundant birthday cakes from some of the City’s best bakers provided a supersized sweet note, while a dress code directive to “Surprise us!” revealed lots of visual variation. Gala chair Norah Stone charmed with her Mario Botta building-themed hat & happy hubby Norman, while Speaker Nancy Pelosi & trustee Paul Pelosi chatted companionably with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerman (whose trademark sweatshirt didn’t surprise us). Board chair Charles Schwab welcomed with his wife Helen and daughter Katie, and the Fisher family was out in force, along with merrymakers Elaine McKeon, Andy & Mary Pilara, Adriane Iann & Christian Stolz, Susan Swig, Mimi Haas, Stuart & Gina Peterson, Danielle & Brooks Walker, Carol & Lyman Casey, Carolyn & Preston Butcher, Nion McEvoy, Martha & Raoul Kennedy, Carlie Wilmans, Judy Webb, Kay & Frank Woods, Helen Hilton Raiser, Christine & Michael Murray, and many of the mod and modern.
Episcopal Charities’ Night of Light—Italian Hours: The nave of Grace Cathedral was transformed into something more secular when cocktails, concert, and a dinner-dance was held to raise funds for Episcopal Charities’ non-denominational work in education, healthcare, and the environment. Themed “Piazza del Popolo” after the great gathering place in Rome, the evening offered a sumptuous Mediterranean meal prepared by some of San Francisco’s finest Italian chefs to go along with the water and wine.
FAMSF Exhibit Opening—First Impressions: The “Birth of Impressionism” exhibit at the deYoung Museum offers its fortunate viewers a rare opportunity to understand the context from which these remarkable paintings emerged. The brilliantly evocative installation captures Paris in the late nineteenth century and reminds viewers how truly radical the Impressionists were. However many times guests at the Opening Gala had seen the paintings in the beloved (and generous) Musee d’Orsay, the giddiness of having them here was palpable. Museum director John Buchanan and board chair Dede Wilsey glowed like a sunset along the Seine as they thanked Musee d’Orsay president Guy Cogeval and Ambassador of France Pierre Vimont. A rollicking Betty Roi et Son Orchestre played bal musette favorites, beautiful tableaux vivants of sunflowers adorned the hall, and everyone became enfants de la patrie for the evening. Amongst the French toast of the town: Ambassador Howard & Gretchen Leach, Athena & Timothy Blackburn, John & Cynthia Fry Gunn, Bill & Sonja Davidow, Jeanne & Sanford Robertson, Mitchell Benjamin and Ricky Serbin, Douglas Tilden, Hope Aldrich & David Spencer, Dianne & Tad Taube, Barbara Foster, Lucy Jewett, Helen & Raj Desai, and many more luminaries from the Paris of the West.
Denise Hale Ball—Masquing Tape: If you were one of the fortunate four hundred invited to Ken Fulk and Kurt Wootton’s Masked Ball in honor of the divine Denise Hale, you were : a) la crème, b) astute phenagler of a plus-one avec la crème, c) a fascinating personnage who might lend the party frisson, d) a drag queen. Whatever your cross-category, you were in for a treat the likes of which this lil’ town hasn’t seen since Emperor Norton crowned himself. An intriguing letterpress invitation, caviar and vodka shots, hundreds of flickering candles, and a rockin’ DJ perched on the leather bed got the party started. Gorgeous gobs of scented lilies made the air heady with possibility, and masks enabled subterfuge beneath taxidermied giraffe or within a Moroccan smoking souk. All made for a sultry, sexy, simpatico vibe that proved irresistible for more than a few dancing queens. The air was perfumed, the entrance festooned, Paula West crooned, a few fellows swooned, and, yes, one or two mooned—but no one was left marooned, including the SPCA rescue dogs and cats who were spared by virtue of the new Denise Hale Animal Fund the party established. A louche and lovely time was had by all, most particularly the guest of honor, resplendent in Rucci, who gleamed as brilliantly as the sparklers and sapphires that adorned her. Quite the Halestorm, indeed.
But that’s not all; May was a ball for many significant organizations. If you went to the SF Jazz Gala, you celebrated the announcement of their new building, something to really scat about! The SF Film Society feted famous and farsighted visionaries, making us admit that we love a little Hollywood now and then. Zoofest brought a cool mil plus to rebuild the aviary and house the monkeys, thanks to some very hip humans. The XPrize reminds us that geek is uber-chic, especially when creating technological solutions to address global humanitarian issues. The Decorator Showcase to benefit University High School Scholarship Program gave us chic of a more domestic sort, and helped a clique of motivated teens to realize their academic dreams. The buildOn Organization used their benefit to help at-risk youth create afterschool volunteer programs in their communities and build schools in third world countries—a win for all involved. The Friends of the Earth Green Ball brought eco-chic to the green carpet. The Holy Family Day Home held its Coming Home Gala to help it to continue providing high quality early education and childcare support for low-income families. The Hope House in Kolkata (Calcutta), a residence for the children depicted in the Academy Award–winning documentary Born Into Brothels, was the beneficiary of an elegant evening hosted at Carolands Chateau. And Tipping Point Community raised a staggering $6 million to address poverty in the Bay Area, a remarkable feat for a four-year-old organization that is a superlative model for change. And, of course, the SF Symphony hosted just about everybody at its spectacular Black & White Ball to 
benefit its grammar school education programs. Whew! We saw you! Thanks, Drew!
Here’s hoping your summer’s a stunner!
Jennifer Raiser is auntie-cipating a joyous June.
