It was an evening of flowers and friendship when the Akron Garden Club presented the Art Blooms! Kaleidoscope 2011 gala Friday night at the Akron Art Museum.
Jean Preston chaired the gala, and Susie Rogers greeted 260 guests who enjoyed an evening of beauty among the art and greenery.
Out on the patio, Kathie VanDevere and Carol Kaufman admired a new kind of tree, a Rising Sun Redbud from Secrest Arboretum. Looking over the trees and plants in the silent auction were Steve and Holly Wilt, Al Nicely, Virginia Wojno-Forney, Les Duryea, John and Georgia Stathopoulos, George and Karen Daverio, Joanne Dannemiller, Chris Hixson, Rick Rogers and Bob and Susan Berk.
Inside the museum, Ann Towell and Bo and Pam McMillen admired the framed Vignettes, while in the Gallery, Marguerite Tremelin and Colleen Wernig, curators of the Art Blooms! Kaleidoscope 2011 exhibit, showed guests the winning entries.
“No, she didn’t cut a tree down,” Tremelin assured guests as they admired the Best of Show arrangement by Donna Bender. Actually, Bender found bamboo shoots in Florida and brought them back by car to use in her stunning arrangement.
New members of the Garden Club, Ann Regula, Amanda Carroll, Carol Jones, Melani Andrews, Teresa Good and Mary Lohman teamed up for a winning flower and table arrangement. Admiring the arrangements were Ray and Sherrie Kimberly, John and Cyndee Debo, Mark and Lynn Yanke, Joyce Marting, Rory and Dedee O’Neil, Beverly Rose, Jan Parry and Tom Barrett.
Sherrie Kimberly, president of the Garden Club, welcomed guests to dinner, prepared by Spice of Life Caterers. Kimberly thanked Director Mitchell Kahan and the museum staff for their help in preparing the event.
Centerpieces of orchids in tall lighted vases graced each table. Preston’s daughter, Lisa Bertles of Palm Beach, Fla., arranged for the South American orchids to be delivered to Akron.
Artist Paula Nadelstern of New York City was a special guest at the gala. “Quilters and gardeners seem to go together,” she said as she shared her inspiration for her Kaleidoscope quilts with guests.
Frances Seiberling Buchholzer, Mike Johnson and Christine Freitag looked over the Metro Parks display showing conservation of the northern monkshood, just one of the conservation projects undertaken by the Garden Club.
Funds raised at the gala will be used for beautification and conservation projects throughout the community.