This year’s Vero Beach Museum of Art Gala transported guests to a different time and place – Venice, Italy – where they reveled in a lavish Carnevale di Venezia. The opulence and beauty of the evening was exquisitely executed by co-chairs Mary Ellen Brophy and Vicki Aspbury.
More than 400 guests attended the masked ball, which began with a red-carpet walk to the North Plaza entrance, laden with candelabras and topiaries. Guests were received by the co-chairs and VBMA Executive Director Lucinda Gedeon before being ushered into a magnificently decorated tent to sip on Bellinis and nibble antipasto-inspired hors d’oeuvres. As attendees mingled under the soaring red curtained ceiling, enhanced by two magnificent crystal chandeliers, they delighted in displaying their extravagant masks.
“The evening is already so special – the masks they asked us to wear really brings out everyone’s creativity,” said Emily Tremml, pointing to her friend’s mask, made by his daughter utilizing various materials to produce a wonderful facial resampling. Many of the other masks were fantastically wild, resembling those from Phantom of the Opera and the sort used in Old World European palace court revelries.
The idea to conceal faces and lend a bit of mystery and intrigue to the evening’s festivities was the brainchild of Brophy and Aspbury, with the Venetian theme inspired by Aspbury’s recent family trip to Venice. Large-scale photographs and projected views of Venetian canals and palaces, as taken by her cinematographer son, lined the walls, adding to the Venetian aura.
“This year the museum did not have a signature exhibit so we needed to come up with something that would be fun and attract guests and someone mentioned a masked ball,” said Aspbury. “We took it a step further and brought it to Venice.”
She credited Brophy for having a brilliant ability to find items to enhance the décor, deemed stunning by everyone there. The pair began planning the event last April and said the ideas just fed on each other and fell into place. “We did all the planning, went to the rental place together, and then I bought a thousand taper candles and we were ready,” Aspbury said with a laugh.
“There are a few little surprises, too, that we think the guests will love,” said Brophy. “The Indialantic Singers are dressed like waiters and wearing masks so the guests will not realize who they are. So when all ten of them begin singing O Sole Mio, That’s Amore and Santa Lucia, everyone will be in shock.”
A beaming Gedeon had exceptionally high praise for the ladies and the committee who brought it all together, saying, “We have never seen the museum transformed quite as beautifully as this before. These women were wonderful to work with and amazing in their detail using tremendous creativity, taking it to the nth degree. They just did everything, outside, inside and throughout.”
The annual Gala supports the Vero Beach Museum of Art’s many mission-based programs.