Annual Arts Performance Event

Record-breaking Event Celebrates
Vogel Alcove’s 25 Years 

A record number of sponsors and their guests celebrated the Vogel Alcove’s 25th birthday at the 2012 Arts Performance Event in the Meyerson Symphony Center on May 14. For the first time in 21 years, the sponsor reception and dinner departed from its traditional format to make the event more festive and to allow guests to mix and mingle. Beth and Jim Gold and Ann and Lee Hobson (pictured left) chaired the benefit for the Vogel Alcove, breaking every previous record. Jim is President, Specialty Retail, of The Neiman Marcus Group and Lee is Managing Partner of Highside Capital Management. Both companies were Presenting Sponsors of the event.

To reach the record $2.6 million in revenue, Neiman Marcus continued its valued support of homeless children by raising $1.1 million. Many volunteers worked hard to ensure the success of the event. The entire NM Sponsorship Committee (click here for a list of all event committee members) deserves recognition, with special thanks to Howard Feldman, Allison Collins, and Lee McCollum. The 2012 event vice chairs were also instrumental in securing sponsorships: Lael and Peter Brodsky (pictured right), Rita Sue and Alan Gold, Erin and Mike McKool (pictured left), Cynthia and Forrest Miller, and Ricki and Andy Rabin. Rick Lacher chaired the Board Sponsorship Committee.

The Logistics Committee chaired by Erin McKool and facilitated by President/CEO Karen Hughes (pictured right) spent months planning the 25th birthday celebration, decorations, dinner, and live auction. Jill Tananbaum chaired the Auction sub-committee, which secured fabulous prizes like the Fashion Week in New York City and orchestrated the first-ever live auction. Ann Marie Painter recruited the Booker T. Washington Jazz Ensemble to play during the cocktail reception.

Shelley Galant, chair of the Decorations sub-committee, conceived the idea of populating the Meyerson lobby with 3-foot tall, two-dimensional figures in the simple shape of a child. Shelley and Mary Lee Broder (pictured at left with Sheila Chapman, [Broder], Alan and Rita Sue Gold) worked with Ignaz Gorischek of Neiman Marcus to recruit Jaime and Isaac Salm and their company MIO, who donated all of the cardboard cutouts in white, tangerine, lavender, and chartreuse. Students at Dallas-area Schools decorated some of the cutouts to create unique figures, which Michael Solis of Neiman Marcus then combined in imaginative arrangements as large sculptures.

Randi McBroom of Todd Events used the sculptures as an inspiration for the evening’s color scheme, using deep purple hibiscus and flowers in shades of lavender that were donated by Central Market to create breathtaking arrangements for the reception. Legendary chef Kent Rathbun planned a distinctive, superb dinner menu.

As patrons entered the performance hall, each received the exceptional 2012 commemorative program, which traced the Alcove’s 25-year history. The book was again a pro bono project of the Fossil Design Studio. Blaine Leist managed the production process for the eleventh year in a row. Kayla Skubiata and Julie Cosby designed a book that was fitting for the celebration of the Alcove’s 25th birthday. Don Clampitt and Clampitt Paper and David Besgrove and Lincoln Press helped reduce the cost of the program with their respective inkind donations toward the paper and printing. Local advertisers also saluted the Alcove’s birthday, thanks to the Ad Solicitation Committee chaired by Mary Lee Broder.

In front of the sold-out crowd, Pat and Emmitt Smith stepped onstage to present a $25,000 check to Board Chair Sheila Chapman. Prior to the co-chairs’ onstage remarks, Sheila thanked the Golds and the Hobsons for their tireless efforts and presented them with engraved Steuben hearts as tokens of the Alcove’s appreciation. Then the talented Sheryl Crow and her tight-knit band rocked the symphony hall. At the end of the evening, guests were given a parting gift as they left the Meyerson — scrumptious birthday cupcakes donated by Society Bakery.

Thanks to the Board of Directors and the Vogel Alcove staff for their work on this event, especially, Karen Hughes, President/CEO, and Anna Irving, Director of Special Events, who has managed the benefit for fifteen years. The event sponsors, advertisers, and ticket patrons fund important services for 115 homeless children each day, giving more than 13,000 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers a chance to thrive over the past 25 years.

SAVE THE DATE:

The 22nd annual Vogel Alcove Arts Performance Event will be held on Monday, April 22, 2013. For questions, please call Anna Irving: (214) 368-8686.

 Photos from 2012 Event

2012 Benefit Committee

2012 Top Sponsors

  2012 Live Auction

Event History