Fifteen minutes can be drawn out to be a lot longer if the setting is right.
And the Ackland Art Museum and Top of the Hill Bar was just such a setting Saturday night.
With an eye for whimsy and a cocky wink at convention, the museum made an evening out of the cultural ideal espoused by pop artist Andy Warhol, whose celebrated quip on the fleeting nature of fame could have easily described Saturday’s fundraising gala.
In an effort to draw in a younger crowd to the normally-black-tie-only event, the museum aimed for a more whimsical theme than in years past, attempting to recreate Warhol’s famed Silver Factory and splitting up the evening into separately ticketed sections.
Although the 11 p.m. appearance of Chapel Hill band The Love Language brought with it a younger and decidedly dressed down crowd, the gala remained a largely older and grayer function, celebrating the museum and its many boosters and supporters.
But this age difference did not prevent the gala — the museum’s major fundraiser for the year — from being a lively evening of artistic role play.
Flash bulbs, screen tests and spontaneous poetry slams were sprinkled throughout the museum and bars that served as the backdrop for the gala, giving attendees a deliberate taste of the high life so central to Warhol’s factory studio.
Creative involvement was teased out through exhibit tours, on-site screen printing and dancing.
The Ackland is still tabulating the totals on the money raised, but communications director Emily Bowles said she thought the night was a success.
“It’s been planned since April, so we’re glad to see it come off so well,” Bowles said Saturday night. “Attendance seems high and people seem to be enjoying themselves.”
The Ackland doesn’t have any specific plans for its fundraiser event next year, but Bowles said that she expects a similar approach — casual dress, innovative artistic themes and big on the music — will likely ensue.
Warhol said that in the future, everyone would be famous for 15 minutes. But Canvas got to be famous for one whole evening — and that suited us just fine.
Come back to the print edition later this week for a rundown on how much money the museum raised Saturday night.
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