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| Notte Magica Art Show- Courtesy of Minibar |
Drop the champagne flutes and pick up the shot glasses. Chicago bars are moving the classic philanthropic art show out of the galleries and onto the dance floor.
A well-groomed man in a form-fitting dark blue suit wanders over to a painting of a meditating Geisha affixed to the showcase wall.
“Are you up to the line yet?”, says the man sipping his whiskey sour.
“Just about”, says a man in a black button-shirt standing next to a vase brimming with $1 dollar bills. A sticker on the vase shows “Donate to Test Positive Network”.
“This should do it”, says whiskey sour toting man as he throws some crumpled $1 dollar bills on the top. “It’s all for a good cause, ya know? Now take off your shirt”.
Welcome to the modern day philanthropic art show.
The Notte Magica Art Show and Fundraiser, held last Friday at Minibar in the Boystown area of Lakeview for The Test Positive Aware Network, was not your average art fundraiser. Complete with bass-bumping music, shot specials, and fundraising jars marked with “shirts off” goal stickers, the event mirrors a new trend in Chicago of making art shows more exciting and accessible to younger demographics.
Who is coming up with these novel ideas? A dedicated team of 20-somethings who have come together from across the arts spectrum to form a cohesive, original event that is more about the business of self-promotion than the art. From the artist, to the event planner, to the fundraiser, each person has specific duties. All are helping to transform the way art shows are planned and executed.
The Artist
Zoe ReBelle immigrated to the United States four years ago from Hungry. Her long black hair paired with her dark eye makeup and thick eastern European accent is reminiscent of a vampire from Bram Stoker’s Dracula. The Notte Magica Art Show was her first showing in Chicago.
“I was excited to get the opportunity to show my art to the city of Chicago”, said ReBelle. “I hope it will help me to jump start my career in art and land me in the midst of the art scene”.
From a young age ReBelle was interested in art. From her small town in Hungry she would paint pictures of farm animals and landscapes while the rest of her family was crunching numbers in an office.
“I was the black sheep of the family”, said ReBelle. “My family used to joke that I was switched at the hospital because of my creative mind”.
After moving to Chicago, ReBelle began looking for opportunities to show her work and break into the art scene. One night in January, while out with some friends at Minibar, ReBelle met Ricardo Sebastian, the bar’s event coordinator.
“I asked him if he knew of any venues that might be able to carry some of my artwork so that it could be seen”, said ReBelle. “He decided to come out and take a look at my works, and the event started in motion from there”.
Over the next eight months, ReBelle created a collection of nine pieces to be exclusively sold at her art show. Although she had usually painted whimsical children’s murals on bedroom walls for an out of home business, ReBelle decided to paint her favorite music idols.
“I decided to paint a collection of music idols because I know the gay community loves them”, said ReBelle. “I knew they would sell well at the art show”.
From a 4X5 foot acrylic on drywall painting of Britney Spears to latex on drywall painting of Lady Gaga, ReBelle attempted to further tap into the gay niche by adding glitter and Swarovski crystals to her paintings.
“Everyone loves glitter- especially the gays”, said ReBelle. “I wanted to make sure that they sold well because I wanted to make sure enough of the money was given to TPAN (Test Positive Aware Network)”.
ReBelle acknowledges that although that was not her first choice of charity, it turned out to be a good choice because not only was it a good cause, but the charity helped to cross-market and co-sponsor the event.
“I am happy with how it all turned out”, said ReBelle. “They really helped me with my show but no one more so than Ricardo- he is the master of events”.
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| Sebastian and ReBelle at Notte Magica Event |
The Event Planner
For a 23 year old, Ricardo Sebastian (born Ricardo Medina) has accomplished much. As marketing coordinator and event planner for Minibar as well as co-founder of philanthropy event planning company Luxury Management, Sebastian has planned events for charities and bars all over Chicago.
“I started with an internship at Minibar my sophomore year in college” said Sebastian. “I have been non-stop ever since”.
Sebastian is the mastermind behind the art/bar mixed event. What started as an opportunity to use Minibar’s space for an Arts For Life showcase late last year has spilled into a twice a month art show.
“We have been having a lot of success with these events”, said Sebastian. “People like the mix of bar and art- it gives more of a relaxed atmosphere”.
For ReBelle’s show, Sebastian tried a few things differently.
“We decided to make it more like a bar scene”, said Sebastian. “We advertised drink tickets, shot specials, and turned the music up a bit”.
Sebastian knows that he has a gay niche market to please. The mix of drink specials and pop diva art helped to bring people through the door.
“The outcome worked perfectly”, said Sebastian. “Having our patrons drink at reduced price while viewing paintings of divas all the while listening to pop music- it sounds a little stereotypical but its what works best for us business wise and our charities”.
Sebastian regularly does charity events with The Test Positive Aware Network. The charity often co-sponsors events in the Boystown area.
“They have helped many of my events get off the ground”, said Sebastian. “If it wasn’t for them, many events would not be as up to par with other events in Chicago”.
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| One of TPAN's donation vases. Photo courtesy of Minibar |
The Fundraiser
Test Positive Aware Network (TPAN), which 10% of the shows proceeds were donated to, is a local Chicago-based philanthropy that focuses on HIV education as well as support services in order to decrease the spread but increase the knowledge of HIV and AIDS. The charity co-sponsors events in order to add funds to their ever growing reach in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs.
Billy Surber, manager of special events and communications at TPAN, believes it is important to have connections to local causes. Surber is the go to man for any function that wishes to give money to TPAN.
“Charity functions have always been a staple in the way of raising money for a good cause”, said Surber. “But it is this particular mix of art/bar that makes it a little different from past functions”.
Surber, who was present at ReBelle’s art show, noted that the work ethic of the people involved as well as and uniformity of the event made the show a success.
“There was a definite theme”, said Surber. “Part of that was to appeal to gay men- we aided this by bringing in the Bar-lesque”.
Bar-lesque, now in it’s forth year, is a bar competition in which bartenders strip to their briefs over the course of five cycles as more and more people donate to TPAN in that specific bartenders name. At the event, Surber had vase with lines on them. For each line surpassed with donated money, the bartenders were made to take one article of clothing off.
“It’s kind of a fun way to get people to donate”, said Surber. “It ties in with the rest of the art show and gets people talking”.
Although some people may find it racy, a lot of money has been raised for the cause. Dexter Giffard, a bartender at Minibar and a competitor in Bar-lesque, has raised over $1,000 dollars for the charity.
“Yes, these events are created to make money, but they are also for a very good cause. It’s an I’ll pat your back you pat mine”, said Giffard. “It works. If that guy over there donates $25 dollars into the vase to see me take my shirt off, then hey, I’ll do it for the cause.”
