The official line is that the Evening Associates, a board of the Art Institute of Chicago, is a group of young professionals who share a special interest in the city’s art, architecture and cultural life.
If the 6-year-old organization’s pre-lenten bash Saturday night in Yvette Wintergarden was any indication, they also do a lot of basic partying.
“The original intention was to get people interested in the Art Institute at an earlier age,” said Duncan Bourne, the 400-member group’s chairman. “We started to hold, and still do, wine receptions and art lectures once a month. It’s a great form. You socialize a bit and get educated a bit.”
“Then we started these fundraisers. But the intention is not to be a high-priced affair. We wanted something affordable. We want to connect art with fun.”
More than 1,000 guests, the majority formally attired, attended the nexus called “Carnaval Surreel.” The $35-a-ticket gathering was expected to net $25,000, said Debbi Smith, the benefit’s chairwoman.
With a 50-item raffle and a 21-booth art bazaar adding to the coffers, “we shouldn’t have a problem,” she said.
Proceeds are earmarked for the board’s partial sponsorship of a major retrospective of Belgian surrealist Rene Magritte coming to the Art Institute next month.
So while the party tendered a taste of Fat Tuesday, with its crawfish hors d’oeuvres and eight free-flowing bars, the accent was on the surreal.
Common Magritte motifs-bowler-hatted men, bright green apples and cloudy blue skies-provided the backdrop. Two performance artists posing as his paintings and 10 surrealistically cloaked fashion models furnished the show.
Add a funk/hip-hop fusion band, a magician, four psychics and a capuchin monkey named Priscilla to the crowd, you’d think all expectations would have been met.
“I thought it would be a little bit more wild,” said Sean Costin, the Sitting Bull headdress worn with his tuxedo making that obvious. “But I am having fun. For 35 bucks, it’s a deal.”
