An Amazing Summer Fiesta 2012!

by danicattan, posted in En Foco, Exhibitions, fine art, New Works, photography

En Foco kicked off the summer with its much touted Summer Fiesta at the HP Gallery at Calumet Photographic on June 20th.  There was an incredible turn out, which allowed us to meet a Challenge Grant from the Lily Auchincloss Foundation, who generously offered to match every dollar we raised up to $10,000, by June 30th.

We wouldn’t have been able to do so without all of you, so here’s a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who came out, had fun, and supported us for this wonderful event!

Here are some fun highlights from the night!

Bidding on our Silent Auction pieces:

Michael Palma admires George Malave’s print in the Silent Auction
Eagerly awaiting to see who won the bids!

Everyone enjoying the artwork, food, and company:

Mark Brown (PDN) and Brandon Remler (Fuji), great friends and supporters

Some of the many amazing artists who so generously donated their pieces of artwork to the Summer Fiesta 2012:

L-R: Frank Gimpaya, Anjali Bhargava, Lola Flash, Groana Melendez, Miriam Romais, Steve Cagan, Ruben Natal-San Miguel.

The New Works #15 awardees (and their families!):

New Works #15 awardees (l-r): Adam Amengual, Alejandro Durán, and Priya Kambli

Some of our raffled Door Prize winners!

Pierina Bustamante grins ear to ear after winning a $50 American Express Gift Card (yes, we really DO have great door prizes!)

Ron Kavanaugh wins brunch for four at our favorite and supportive restaurant, La Palapa

Some of our Silent Auction winners!

Sidney Baumgarten and Terry Paladini-Baumgarten
Len Walker (after the bidding war), and Jim Reed from Calumet.

Surprise! Susan Karabin, our fantastic Board Chair, offered to match any donation  up to $1,000 to help meet our Challenge Grant requirement. Thank you so much Susan for such an altruistic gift!

And finally, a little surprise for Miriam Romais, the Executive Director – celebrating her 20 years with En Foco, Inc!

Board Members Miraida Morales and Susan Karabin with Miriam Romais

A few gals of the En Foco team that help make the magic happen: Olga Omelchenko (Nueva Luz Design & Production), Hilary Thorsen (former Program Manager), Miriam Romais (Exec Director/Editor), Kiersten Lukason (bookkeeping), Dani Cattan (Program Associate)

The donations and support we received are a testament to our strong and steadily growing community at En Foco. Meeting the Challenge Grant is proof that we as an artistic community, are evolving and growing together.

With every dollar received, we are able to continue to promote cultural diversity in the field of photography, cover the cost of exhibitions, publish Nueva Luz, provide our artists with monetary compensation for their work, and provide free workshops for our community. So again, THANK YOU for your dedication and investment in En Foco!

The Summer Fiesta was truly a success and it wouldn’t have been possible without you, our dedicated community members. We look forward to such a successful and fun Fiesta next year!

For more photographs from the Summer Fiesta, please visit our flickr page.

Photos courtesy Ray Llanos and Chris Connelly.

One thought on “An Amazing Summer Fiesta 2012!”

  1. me parece genial !!!!!!!!!!! SABIA QUE TENIAS POTENCIAL espero que DANIELLE ROSA CATTAN sea feliz ya que ella lo es todo y yo no soy nada TE DESEO lo mejor del mundo

    mel

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