The gleaming Forty Five Ten store on Dallas’ Main Street was the setting on Monday, November 13, for a much-anticipated “celebration” of Art Ball 2018.
Before details about the ball were revealed on the store’s fourth floor, more than 100 guests including Laura and Walter Elcock, Art Ball 2017 Co-Chair Ann Hobson, Brian Bolke and Faisal Halum and Pat and Charles McEvoy mingled throughout the retail palace, catching up with friends and checking out the luxurious offerings. [Editor’s note: Photo provided by Art Ball PR ID-ed Brian Bolke as “Brian Eloke.” Evidently, another media outlet didn’t catch the “oops!”].
The guests had good reason to check out the offerings: 10 percent of the evening’s purchases were to be donated to the Art Ball beneficiary, the Dallas Museum of Art. The museum relies on money raised through the Art Ball to fulfill its mission.
As partygoers chatted and shopped and munched on delicious lobster rolls to the peppy tunes of spin-meister Lucy Wrubel, the DMA’s Eugene McDermott Director Agustin Arteaga finally took the mic and addressed the expectant crowd.
After noting that former Art Ball chairs Melissa Fetter and Catherine Rose were in the house, Agustin said, “We have a dynasty of great chairs, and now we have one more: Rebecca Enloe Fletcher!
“I want to thank her for taking this huge job. I promise her that I will be right there next to her, supporting her,” Agustin went on, adding, “I know that doesn’t mean anything,” to a burst of laughter from the crowd.
After thanking the event’s premier hospitality sponsor, Forty Five Ten owner the Headington Cos., Arteaga gave way to Rebecca, who will chair the museum’s 53rd annual gala on Saturday, April 21, at the DMA.
Rebecca said that, with Agustin on board, the DMA is “entering a new chapter,” inspiring her theme for the upcoming ball: “Horizon: Now. New. Next.” Explained Rebecca: “There will be a lot of color, a contemporary theme, and a lot of surprises.”
The event will include a seated dinner, a luxury live auction chaired by Faisal and Brian, and a festive after-party.
With that, Rebecca thanked a number of the ball sponsors, including Fendi, Peggy and Carl Sewell, J.P. Morgan, Jennifer and John Eagle, Clay Cooley Auto Group, Neiman Marcus, Bank of America, and Sidley Austin LLC.
Then everyone went back to visiting and shopping for the worthy cause.
* Photo credit: Tamytha Cameron