Last week news was bubbling about the imaginative packages that were being put together by fundraisers to get the money flowing in. Oh, sure, you remember that trip to Cuba benefiting Suicide and Crisis Center of North Texas.
Well, get your strolling shoes polished up because they just might be walking through royal surroundings thanks to Barbara Daseke, who is a very, very busy gal. While the interior designer works with chairs professionally, she’s chairing all types of events in the months to come. One of them is Art in Bloom International and Barbara is busting with news about that one.
Yes, it will take place at the Dallas Museum of Art on Monday, March 21. For the honorary chair, Barbara has gotten that red-haired doll Linda Ivy. As for the honoree, it will be Olivier Meslay, who is the Dallas Museum of Art’s Associate Director of Curatorial Affairs and the Barbara Thomas Lemmon Curator of European Art.
While there won’t be a fashion show, the speaker is gonna be over-the-top for the day of art and natural beauty. It’s going to be landscape architect and landscape historian Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, who is the Gardens Advisor to Historic Royal Palaces. And, no, he’s not one of those stuffy, stiff upper lip types.
According to Todd, “My work reflects my interest in the dramatic and sculpture potential of landscape, and is imbued with whimsical, historical eclecticism. I like to think that my gardens are intelligent as well as beautiful as they are informed by my training as an architect, landscape architect, geographer and historian.”
Leave it to Barbara to take full advantage of having the noted landscape guru on the docket. She up and decided to use Todd as an additional source of fundraising. Instead of the usual fashion show, she’s arranged to have a Table Design Competition. Limited to underwriters for a $500 entry fee, the entrants can dazzle up their tables with the theme of “International.”
For their creativity and execution, they’ll not only dress the luncheon, they’ll compete for “a three-day spree for two in London, complete with exceptional accommodations” and a private tour of the gardens of Kensington Palace and other historic palace gardens.
And who is going to be the judge of the competition? Why, Todd, of course.
But the number of available tables are limited, so start thinking of your table design. Sponsorships will be available in mid-October with individual tickets at $175 available for purchase starting on Friday, December 4.
Stay tuned. Word has it that “there are lots of great plans in the works.”