If you were in attendance at the ninth annual Farragut Elementary School Artworks! Gala event, on Saturday April 21, you would have witnessed Farragut parents, and teachers, along with City Council members and local businessmen pulling together to raise funds to sustain the school’s art programming.
[img]1402|left|||no_popup[/img]
Organizers, from left, Dianne Tyau, donations and auction manager; Jodie Fratantuno, Artworks! Gala organizer; Christine Johnson, Artworks! chair; Eugenie Lago, Artworks! Community Arts Day organizer.
More than 200 community members were in attendance.
Farragut School has an “Arts and Technology” focus, and parents have come together annually to raise money to keep art and music education at the school.
Money raised through the Artworks activities goes toward covering the cost for a part-time artist-in-residence to teach bi-weekly art classes to children in all grades and music education for all students in partnership with organizations such as Do-Re-Mi, Symphonic Jazz Orchestra, L.A. Opera, and the Music Center.
Susan Hancock, the owner of Royal/T, donated the creative space to Artworks again this year. Royal/T, on Washington Boulevard near Downtown, is a cafe and art gallery that mixes food with art.
Event participants enjoyed cocktails, Royal/T signature appetizers, an Asian-fusion buffet dinner and a pandemonium of desserts. The event included a silent and live auction. Mike King, whose daughters are alumni of Farragut, did a magnificent job as the emcee and auctioneer for the evening. The most hotly contested auction item was an animation cel by Culver City resident Martha Sigall that brought in $2100. The cel featured a parade of Looney Tune characters. Other hot items were a serigraph by Tim Dickson that fetched $300 and a brand new Mini Cooper foldable adult bike, sold for $550 from Steve Marx, South Bay BMW. Lisa Levin, Artworks! boutique manager, hosted a beautiful Mother’s Day gift area.
This year, Artworks! was composed of three events: Community Arts Day, the online auction and the evening gala event.
The three Artworks! 2012 events netted close to $45,000, $11,000 more than the previous year. One hundred percent of this funding will be applied to art programming at the school.
The Artworks! online auction was a huge success, and ran from April 15-April 25. Dianne Tyau, donation and auction manager, stated that “we solicited over 500 corporate and local businesses this year, twofold over previous Artworks! Auctions. We appreciate the generous donations from local businesses and corporations.”
Jodie Fratantuno, chief gala organizer, did an impressive job heading up the Artworks! Gala. Christine Johnson, Artworks! Chair, spoke of the group of motivated parents that made this event such a success:
“Culver City residents are a living, breathing example of how a community works together to give our kids the best education they can.”
Lynn Ebora, attending her very first Artworks event as Farragut’s new principal, also praised the community.
Mehaul O’Leary, the owner of Joxer Daly’s Irish Pub, donated the beer, wine, and the bar staff.
Thanks to all of the following for their sponsorship, enthusiasm and support:
Platinum Sponsors:
Joxer Daly's
Royal/T
Visual Data Media Services, Inc.
Gold Sponsors:
Culver Center Flowers,
Post Haste Sound, Roundabout Entertainment,
Sony Pictures Entertainment, The UPS Store in Raintree Plaza
Silver Sponsors:
Collectors' Editions,
Foto-Kem Industries, Inc., Illuminate Hollywood,
Mike King Realtor, the Levin family, Mytel International, Inc., Point.360,
Steeldeck, Inc., Transcenders
Bronze Sponsors:
The Chuck family, the Fratantuno family, Indigo Payments, Jackson Market & Deli, LaRocco's Pizzeria, Rapaport Dermatology of Beverly Hills, Saller’s International Auto Body, Sara Lee, Semi-Sweet Bakery, the Wahlert family, Wells Fargo and Sony Pictures Entertainment, Production Sound.
