Whim W’Him’s Postlewaite & Porretta
(Marc von Borstel photo)
Whim W’Him? Try Win Win. The company raised $26K and change over the weekend, at their Sole Repair Shop Dance Party and their Silent Auction/Dinner. The company says it has a ways to go before they reach their total annual budget, but so far, so good, thanks to all who showed up.
And just how many was that? More than 150 folks showed up at the Dance Party. I wasn’t able to make it. I did make it to the auction, though, as a volunteer. What a fun event! Everyone seemed so excited to be helping Olivier Wevers’ new company start off on the firmest footing possible.
Artist Steve Jensen opened up not just his studios, but his upstairs loft as well—and the rooftop deck. His loft is packed floor-to-ceiling with art. And by the end of the evening there was one more piece of art to grace his collection: Jensen bought the beautiful swan sculpture by Casey Curran.
Casey Curran’s moving swan sculpture
(photo taken at Gallery IMA)
My favorite piece in that loft? That’s hard to say, but the funnest piece I saw was a painting of a kid eating an ice cream cone…the canvas has a hole for a scoop of real ice cream, and part of the fun is watching it drip down the canvas onto the counter top. It was vanilla on Saturday night; you could see where the chocolate ice cream had run before.
Before the 100-or-so attendees went upstairs to enjoy a delicious hors-doeuvres-y buffet dinner by Lisa Dupar, another open bar, and an excellent jazz trio that thankfully strayed from the old standards, the action was all about the auction. Nearly 30 items had been donated for the auction, including art by Mary Crane, Casey Curran, Steve Jensen, Catherine Lepoutre, Michael Liang, Jared Rue, Margo Spellman, Mark von Borstel, and Mark Zappone (the beautiful shawl he created really was a piece of art)…plus a Whim W’Him fragrance by Jordan Pacitti.
Among the treats of the evening were two glimpses into the artist’s process: Menswear designer Michael Cepress presented his initial sketches for Whim W’Him’s upcoming “Three Seasons” and Byron Au Yong’s shared some of his studies for the same piece. No spoilers; check it out January 15–17 at On the Boards.
