THE GALA to Benefit Africare

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International Visions presented The Gala to Benefit Africare on Friday, March 30th at the beautiful and historic Washington Club in the heart of Washington, DC. The evening was an unqualified success. The club looked lovely, much fun was had by all and, most vitally, significant funds were raised for Africare. Africare’s mission is to improve the quality of life in Africa. Founded in 1970 in Niger, Africare is the oldest and largest African-American led organization focused exclusively on aid to Africa. Africare works in partnership with African communities to achieve healthy and productive societies. Africare’s programs address needs in the principal areas of food security and agriculture as well as health and HIV/AIDS, as well as water resource development, environmental management, basic education, micro enterprise development, governance initiative and emergency humanitarian aid. Africare currently reaches families and communities in 25 countries in every major region of Sub-Saharan Africa. International Visions donated part of the proceeds from the sales of both their tenth anniversary exhibition, entitled TEN, at the gallery, but from an exhibition they held at the Embassy of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Hall, entitled Beneath the Surface, as well. The icing on the cake, however, was the Gala.

The evening began with a reception, silent auction and live entertainment. The silent auction goods were diverse (from Southwest Airlines tickets to a Washington Capitals Jersey to a print from Sam Gilliam… the list goes on) and sold briskly. The reception featured music created by Brother Ah, a Washington icon himself, along with his World Music Ensemble and North African dancers. Along with decorations such as African mud cloths, the music imbued the event with the rhythm of Africa.

One of the reasons the gallery staff chose the Washington Club, beyond the sheer beauty of the structure, was that its chef hailed from West Africa. He prepared a sumptuous feast for the diners, including fried plantains, avocado salad and a whole host of other African specialties. Davis says that the gallery members are still talking about the feast! The main feature at dinner was a series of speeches raising awareness about the need to increase aid to Africa and the presentation of special honors to two very special people and organizations.

When Davis began planning the event, he wanted it to remain true to the gallery’s mission and to honor those who had furthered the goals of that mission. His wonderfully active Gala Planning Committee, suggested of gallery members, patrons and artists, suggested that he consider honoring Howard University. Davis was struck by the idea. Not only had Howard produced an incredibly diverse spectrum of artists who had helped shaped American art over the past century, but it was a key institution in producing leaders of the African aid movement. The next idea was one that had been in Davis’ head for a while: since the gallery is “all about the artist,” he wanted to recognize Washington DC and international icon, Sam Gilliam.

Sam Gilliam was born in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1933 and received a Masters of Art in Painting at the University of Louisville in 1961. Gilliam moved to Washington, DC in 1962, where he joined the second generation of Washington Color Field painters. His illustrious career’s many highlights include solo exhibitions at The Phillips Collection, the National Gallery of Art and the Museum of Modern Art; in 1972, he was one of six artists to represent the United States at the Venice Biennale. Sam Gilliam’s abstract color field paintings are widely represented in museum collections, notably the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery of Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Whitney Museum of American Art and the Tate Gallery. Perhaps most importantly, at least to the Washington artistic community, was that Sam remained in DC, promoting a thriving art community there.

The Gala was a great success not because of the superb food or the great music, but because of the wonderful collection of art patrons and enthusiastic donors to a cause. The gala could not have happened without the support of sponsors, including Southwest Airlines, Homes of Color Magazine, ArtSeen, ACR Group, Inc, Black Pearl Foundation, Janice Lillian Booker, Esq., Lawry’s Restaurants, McCabe’s Printing Group, Innovative Resources Management, Inc. and Humble Journey Films. Mistress of Ceremonies Dr JC Hayward was instrumental in making the evening a success.

International Visions Gallery would like to thank all supported the events for the ten year
Celebration all of the sponsors, members, supporters, gala committees, honorary committee
members, volunteers, artists and the staff Merin Frank, Gallery manager, Juliana Takaki, intern, and
Betty Murchison, advisor.

All photo credit to: Edward O. Savwoir
202-545-0592
www.savwoirphotography.com

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