You had me at Burrata. Ok so maybe not exactly at burrata but the Evening Associates of the Art Insttitute of Chicago’s annual fundraiser, Night Heist added a touch that you rarely see at most junior/auxiliary board events courting those key young professionals with disposable income: a legit sit down dinner. Summer is the season most young non profit boards host their major fundraising events and some of the things you know to expect are samples upon samples of food from area restaurants or a caterer to go along with the open bar but to make sure their’s stands out and continues to attract some of the city’s young art enthusiasts, the committee members of the Evening Associates Night Heist used what they had at their disposal: the picturesque modern wing at the Art institute and Terzo Piano.
The night began for VIP guests with a cocktail reception under the nighttime sky on the terrace of Terzo Piano before the seated dinner. The menu was curated by chef Tony Mantuano. Since there were no assigned seats, it offered attendees a chance to get to know others within seated at their table bit better. Once dinner was over, VIP guests were ushered downstairs to Griffin court for the main event. A private tour of the current groundbreaking exhibition America after the Fall: Painting in the 1930s, seminal works by Edward Hopper, Grant Wood, Thomas Hart Benton, and Georgia O’Keeffe, at the Art Institute. Guests were entertained by the sounds of DJ Tess. Mixologists Paul McGee of Lost Lake; Danny Shapiro of Scofflaw; Wade McElroy and Jeff Donahue of Sportsman’s Club; Clint Rogers, and Brian Sturgulewski of Dogma Group; John Stanton of Sable Kitchen & Bar, Laura Kelton of Bad Hunter, Nandini Khaund of Cindys, and Adam Seger all created specialty cocktails inspired by the exhibition.
Raffle packages up for the evening included a trip Art Basel in Miami, A cherry red KitchenAid mixer, and VIP tickets to Lollapalooza to name a few. Night Heist 2016 was co-chaired by Brandon Clark, Kristin Culbertson and John Reid. Catherine Napier and Morgan Dower were raffle co-chairs. The after party was at the Game Room at the Chicago Athletic Association.
Photos: Braxton Black and Claire Britt/Art Institute of Chicago
