2012 GALA - DESIGNS IN ILLUSION
The third annual Conservancy Gala, chaired by Betsy and Ridley Wills, was a night of magic and mystery held inside the Parthenon. From the moment guests arrived at the Parthenon, the evening full of surprises began where a massive backlit screen out front projected playful silhouettes as guests were greeted by the valet. Fire jugglers flanked the entrance to the Parthenon, bedazzling guests before they even stepped foot inside the party. Cocktails were served in the Treasury Room, then dinner chimes were followed by a dozen magicians clad in black tailcoats pulling ropes as if pulling Conservancy Gala guests into the dinner tent. Culminating the evening was an improvisational painting performance by Dan Dunn of Paintjam. Dan, internationally known as a speed painter to music, painted three seven- foot square canvases while dancing and throwing paint on the spinning canvases. Only at the end were the subjects of the paintings revealed – Ray Charles, Lady Liberty and our very own Parthenon. Betsy and Ridley, along with Honorary Chair Clare Armistead, continued to pull off another exciting, adrenaline-filled evening.
