By Judy Carmack Bross
Over 250 guests attended the Gilded Gala
Drew Ahrens, Lisa Key, Barbi and Tom Donnelley
The Driehaus Museum’s annual Gilded Gala took “Designing the Future,” as its theme but the evening surely celebrated as well a banner year led by its incandescent and collaborative Executive Director Lisa Key who brought together myriad Chicago institutions around its Rory McEwen summer exhibition and is drawing crowds to its current “Tiffany Lamps: Beyond the Shade”.
Cari Sacks, Glenn Davis, and Katherine Mann
Ellen-Blair Chube, and Brendan Fernandes
Nora Daley and Gloria Groom
Over 250 guests gathered at the Museum for cocktails, light bites, music from Sam Thousand’s jazz trio, and viewings of the Tiffany Lamps and “The Land of Oz: Beyond the Page” exhibitions.
During dinner, guests were serenaded by Adia Evans, Soprano, Geoffrey Agpalo, Tenor, and Michael Banwarth, Piano, of the Lyric Opera, and later, by Sam Thousand’s trumpet solo of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.”
Chicago cultural leaders Enrique Mazzola, Penelope Steiner and Greg Cameron
Joe Gromacki and Charlotte Tieken
Lisa Key and Rhona Hoffman
Funds raised directly support the Museum’s exhibitions and expanded public engagement and outreach programs that reach thousands of Chicagoans and visitors from around the world each year. This year, the Museum honored the storied architecture firm of Vinci | Hamp, renowned for their pioneering restoration work and many contributions to Chicago’s cultural landscape and built environment.
A poignant series of tributes were made to Vinci | Hamp, with both John Vinci and Philip Hamp reflecting on their achievements and their gratitude to their partners, staff, and clients, many of whom were in the audience.
Renowned preservationist and architect John Vinci
Larry Fields, Lisa Key, Marilyn Fields, Brendan Fernandes, Nina Yung
Karen Bauwens, Mark Evans, Suzette Bross Bulley
In her welcoming remarks Lisa Key focused on the Museum’s achievements for the year, including a 25 percent increase in visitor attendance, a 66 percent increase in program attendance, and its highly successful partnership with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. “This year’s Gilded Gala beautifully embodied the creativity, community, and generosity at the heart of the Driehaus Museum. Together, we advanced a shared vision for the Museum’s future, raising vital support to expand our educational initiatives and deepen our commitment to broadening access to extraordinary art, architecture, and design,” Key said.
Musician Sam Thousand
Adia Evans
Celia Hillard and Lisa Key
Glenn Davis and Nora Daley
The annual event benefits the Museum’s transformative public programming and mission of expanding access to extraordinary art, architecture and design. Zachary Lazar serves as Board President.
Built for the Nickerson family in 1883, the house was heralded by Inland Architect in the February issue of that year which stated that it “reached a standard of excellence never before attained in Chicago.” The six-story Murphy Auditorium next door where the party flowed was built between 1923 and 1926 by the American College of Surgeons. It was added to the Driehaus Museum’s footprint in 2022 making it possible for the Museum to expand its programmatic activities and capacity while carrying forward the tradition of creativity, innovation and education embedded in the historic spaces.
Enrique Mazzola, Penelope Steiner and Lisa Key
Jakub Uteseny and Monika Utesena
Jim Kinoshita, Merrillyn Kosier, Mareile Cusack
Photo Credit: Robin Subar
For more information about the Driehaus Museum, visit: driehausmuseum.org.
Laura Mandel, Lisa Key, Richard Blessen
