SFWIRE

Exploratorium’s 35th Annual Awards Dinner

SFWire Staff — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:47:26 +0000

At just how many science museum fundraisers do you encounter four of the Dalai Lama’s red-robbed Buddhist monks playing five card monty to be exact — with a young orange-jacketed high school Explainer, looking very much like a street corner operator from the hood? The monks are part of the Science for Monks program, visiting from their home in exile in India. And the Explainer, though he may actually live in the hood, was talking attention diversion and sleight of hand, pointing to the neuroscience underlying the game. They were just a few of the over 500 guests in attendance at the Exploratorium’s 35th Annual Awards Dinner on Tuesday, May 8, an event that easily made its $800,000 goal. This was the final Awards Dinner to be held in the Palace of Fine Arts before the Exploratorium relocates to its new home at Pier 15 in Spring of 2013.

Paul Otellini, the CEO of Intel, was spotted shaking hands with the server who gave him his hors d’oevres. Later, he told the crowd, “I was one of the lucky ones who grew up with the Exploratorium. I have Exploratorium inside,” a play on Intel’s advertising slogan, Intel Inside.

To see more images from the event: visit 35th Annual EXPLORATORIUM AWARDS DINNER: Crucible of Innovation

MFA Students Get Arty and Party at the SFAI Graduate Exhibition Preview Party

Lauren Ranes — Wed, 16 May 2012 23:26:24 +0000

Spectators at this week’s SFAI Graduate Exhibition Preview Party eagerly stepped through the looking glass; a visual feast for the eyes awaited them. Nearly 100 artists, 2012 Master of Fine Arts Graduates, unveiled their work at the magnetic Phoenix Hotel. The installations, glorious and varied, transformed the hipster hotel into a sensory wonderland. Artists acted as both curators and docents of their work; paintings, drawings, sculpture, video, photography and large scale installations were all on display. The showcase of talent left President of SFAI Charles Desmarais beaming and viewers awe-inspired. Net proceeds from the annual event support student scholarships.

buildOn Dinner Celebrates Twenty Years of Building a Movement

Jami Witek — Wed, 16 May 2012 22:56:20 +0000

Tipping Point Raises a Remarkable $8 Million to Prevent Poverty

Jennifer Raiser — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:13:19 +0000

“Thanks for Giving” was the theme of Tipping Point Community’s seventh phenomenal fundraiser to fund poverty prevention programs. The innovative organization has quickly become a philanthropic powerhouse in the Bay Area, raising desperately needed funds to assist the one in five families who cannot meet basic needs for food and housing. Although their work is challenging and complex, their business model is impossibly simple: get a blockbuster board of directors to pay for administrative expenses, raise a big bunch of money from new and old megamillions winners in tech, finance, and industry, and donate 100% of every dollar raised to fight poverty. No endowment, no overhead, no funny business. Just solid, hardworking funds put to immediate use to help the 1.3 million Bay Area residents who need job skills, housing, meals, education and health care.

In just seven years, young founder and CEO Daniel Lurie has become a trusted conduit between leaders at the very top of the donor and nonprofit communities. His annual benefit has become a must-attend event, much more to be seen than it is a scene. 800 guests gathered at the Giants’ Pier 48 rustically embellished by Stanlee Gatti for cocktails and a Thanksgiving-style dinner catered by Paula LeDuc; as the pumpkin pie was served, auctioneer Mark Buell kept the auction paddles raised for two blockbuster items: a fabulous family weekend in Jackson Hole, and a princely poker game with the execs of the Giants, 49ers, Sharks and Warriors. In one of the more elegant gestures of the evening, the deluxe weekend at Meadowood Resort won in the raffle was promptly donated back to be auctioned to raise another $25K. And then the remarkable force of Silicon Valley showed itself in full: guests were encouraged to pick up the pager-like devices stationed at every table, insert their identity chip, and pledge big to fight poverty. As incentive, Helen and Charles Schwab, Anne Wojcicki and Sergey Brin, and Fiona and Stan Druckenmiller pledged to match donations up to $1 million. The wifi enabled devices immediately showed the results on a giant screen, both as a graphic and a numerical tally; in just six exhilarating minutes the six million dollar mark was met. Ten minutes into the exercise, the total exceeded $8.08 million. Equally anonymous and amazing, the sense of elation was palpable: this is how IPO alleviates SRO. And just as quickly as it began, the dinner was over and the crowd was dismissed to join a few hundred after-party revelers to hear the indie favorite Band of Horses followed by DJ Ruckus. As Daniel Lurie tucked into the VIP Backstage Lounge to catch his breath and receive another heartfelt hug, he modestly glanced at this reporter’s poised notebook and grinned, “You never stop working, do you?” With his goal of making poverty preventable, the question should have been asked to Lurie himself, the hardest working man or woman in the room. With 1.3 million Bay Area residents in need of help, Tipping Point knows it cannot afford to stop working, not even for one remarkable evening of giving and giving thanks.

To thank and bank: Tipping Point Board Chair Alec Perkins, and Directors Zach Bogue, Kate Harbin Clammer, Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, Mike Holston, Chris James, Thomas Laffont, David Lamond, 49er great Ronnie Lott, Katie Schwab Paige, Gina Peterson, Eric Roberts, Jed York, Gideon Yu, and David Zierk; Event Co-Chairs Gayle and Ron Conway, Jane and Wyatt Gruber, Marissa Mayer and Zach Bogue, Dawn and David Zierk; Major donors Sonia and Paul Tudor Jones, Celeste and Anthony Meier, Jessica and Jason Moment, Lexy Tretter and Ari Lurie, George Lee, Julia and John J. Healy, Dr. Nadine Burke Harris and Arno Harris, Lesa and Greg Faulkner, Tina and Joe Bou-Saba, Cori and Tony Bates, Jean-Pierre Conte, Abby and Egon Durban, Max Boyer Glynn and David Glynn, Libby and Damian Ornani, Delores and Gary Arabian, Puja and Samir Kaul, Krista and Aaron Moatz, Cameron Phleger and Mike Horwitz, Mary and MacGregor Read, Julie and Dorian Stone, Patricia Swig Dinner, Sarah and Jason Dilullo, Amy and Drew McKnight, and a whole host of anonymous angels who got the message and got right to the point.

Zoofest 2012 is a Wild Ride

SFWire Staff — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:58:04 +0000

The San Francisco Zoological Society hosted more than 425 supporters and guests during its annual fundraiser, ZooFest 2012 – An Evening of Elegance on the Serengeti. ZooFest is the San Francisco Zoo’s most highly anticipated event of the year, and for 2012, Event Chair Kelley Roberts created a truly unique and elegant evening that raised over $800,000.

Working with event designer Stanlee Gatti, and caterer Paula LeDuc, Ms. Roberts transformed the Zoo’s historic Sloat Boulevard entryway into a stunning African veldt cocktail setting where attendees enjoyed the sunset amidst blazing fire pits, live African drumming music, a roving witchdoctor, and an authentic Range Rover safari vehicle photo opportunity. Inside the zebra-themed dinner tent, guests dined on Masai Chicken specially created by LeDuc for the event, while the band Wonder Bread 5 kept revelers dancing well past midnight. For the young at heart, the Zoo’s iconic Eugene Friend Carousel offered free rides for attendees throughout the evening. Throughout the night, patrons enjoyed beverages donated by Zoo board member MacGregor Read’s Grocery Outlet, Inc., along with Blue Angel Vodka and Southern Wine and Spirits of Northern California.

Guests arrived in their best safari-themed cocktail attire, mixing tuxedos and pith helmets or cocktail dresses accessorized with binoculars. Attendees included Bay Area luminaries such as Denise Hale, Zoo board member and Capital Campaign chairwoman Dianne Taube and her husband Tad, Rosemary Baker, Sandy Littlefield, Chandler and Oliver Evans, and SF Park and Recreations Commissioner Paige Arata.

The Zoo put forth an impressive list of live auction items including animal naming rights for the Zoo’s new female snow leopard (purchased by Ms. Robert’s husband Mark, and named “Kelley”), and new male koala (purchased by Zoo board member Greg Malin, with naming yet to be determined). Other auction highlights included a hugely popular Ken Fulk Party at his SoMa loft, a private fashion show luncheon at the Valentino Boutique in Beverly Hills, and tickets to the 2013 Elton John Oscar Party. The Gatti/LeDuc magic resulted in one of the most sought-after live auction items of the evening: a tree-trimming party designed by Gatti and catered by LeDuc. Additionally, the Fund-A-Need raised more than $125,000 to support the Zoo’s new Wellness Initiative.

“The evening was simply extraordinary,” said Tanya Peterson, Executive Director of the San Francisco Zoo. “Kelley brought amazing energy, passion, and vision to the event – and everyone in attendance was touched by Kelley’s opening toast in remembrance of Leanne Bovet Robert’s life and her contributions to the Zoo.”

Tremendous thanks go to some of the Zoo’s key sponsors including Wells Fargo Advisors, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Franklin Templeton Investments. Key individual sponsors included Shanna McBurney and David Stanton, Linnea and George Roberts, and Helen and Charles Schwab.

Freshly Minted Website Welcomes Christy Turlington Burns and Celebrity Curators

Jennifer Raiser — Mon, 14 May 2012 22:14:32 +0000

Buying art over the internet has never been so easy – or so overwhelming. So the recent launch of crowdsource-chosen art and photography prints on Minted.com came with some winnowing by well-known tastemakers: supermodel Christy Turlington Burns, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, Google’s Marissa Mayer, and photographer/MTV personality Tabitha Soren Lewis, among others. For the art launch party, CEO Mariam Naficy turned over the walls in her Pacific Heights home into mini-installations which could be discussed with the celebrity curators standing nearby. The diversity of each grouping revealed as much about the chooser as the choice: serene and inspirational for Turlington Burns, graphic and punchy for Mayer, surprisingly whimsical for Stoppelman, Asian-influenced for Soren. One King’s Lane founder Alison Pincus and SFGirlbyBay blogger Victoria Smith’s were also on hand to discuss their Minted pic picks.

Minted.com is the brainchild of serial entrepreneur Nacify, who first applied the crowd source model to the stationery business and has now expanded to include archival-quality prints. Customers found they liked the site’s particular visual sensibility, and kept clamoring for more products with the same elan. Artists submit original designs and photographs to the Minted site, where the most popular designs are community selected, printed on high quality stock, and offered for sale. Artists are compensated by commissions for sales of their designs.

For the first year, sales from the site’s children’s and nursery collections benefit Every Mother Counts, a maternal health and advocacy organization founded by Christy Turlington Burns to address the preventable 90% of deaths from complications of pregnancy.

Turlington Burns graciously agreed to answer a few questions about her artistic image selections, raising her two children aged six and eight, and her world view. We asked about her choice of a calligraphic image proclaiming Gandhi’s message, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

SFWire: Tell us why you chose a piece of art that is comprised of words.

Christy Turlington Burns: If I am choosing to live with a piece of art, I want to look at something that I find endlessly inspirational, like that quotation. My children always find ways to teach that lesson to me, even as I am hoping to teach them, too. My daughter reminded me the other day that I don’t have to agree to every request, and I taught her about the choices we make to honor our obligations. It’s a good give-and-take.

SFW: Children have a way of doing that, don’t they?

CTB: I envy the way children begin their lives knowing so much, and being so incredibly wise. As we grow older, we become more constrained by society, so it’s important that we continue to listen to the children who still carry that spirit within them.

SFW: Is this piece like the art you collect in your home?

CTB: I have an eclectic photograph collection which I have amassed over the years: classical nudes from Larry Clark and Irving Penn, flower prints from Mapplethorpe, and some amazing Sugimoto pieces, including one of the Castro Theater which I consider a touchstone of my Bay Area roots. (Turlington Burns was raised in the East Bay and now lives in New York.) I like to display my art on walls and not stack it on the floor, so I’ve had to slow down because I am running out of display space.

SFW: Do you miss anything about living in the west?

CTB: Oh, my yes! I just saw a little tuft of California poppies peeking out on a green hillside, and I realized how much I miss their bright orange color. I miss that distinctive smell of eucalyptus that permeates the air, especially in the spring. I miss hiking up in the hills of Los Trancos. I love New York, but I’m definitely from California.

SFJAZZ Gala Offers a Tuneful Tribute to Ahmad Jamal

Jennifer Raiser — Thu, 10 May 2012 01:30:24 +0000

When Clint Eastwood was asked to present to SFJAZZ honors to pianist Ahmad Jamal, his immediate response was, “where and when?” Jamal commands that level of absolute respect from jazz aficionados, many of whom gathered at Bimbo’s 365 club to see and hear both the presenter the honoree. What they saw and heard in the interim was equally compelling, as the SFJAZZ Collective and the SFJAZZ High School Allstars turned it up for Jamal in front of a sold-out gala called, “Freedom in the Groove.” The evening was as jam-packed as the arrivals lobby where jazz greats and those who love them were greeted by old and new friends and fans. The fan fare was mighty impressive, with filmmaker Phil Kaufman, theater director Jonathan Moscone, and authors Amy Tan, Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman, and Daniel Handler, among others, all gathering as guests. Arrivals were greeted with a choice of Roederer Estate champagne or bourbon shots, which revved-up the enthusiastic crowd even further; by the time nearly all of them were personally welcomed by Honorary Chair Robert Mailer Anderson in his leopard-lapel dinner jacket, they were giddy with anticipation of the musical feast in store. Perceptive eyes could recognize Humanitarian Award winner Chris Tucker, NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, and publisher Nion McEvoy in their midst. Once guests were settled at their tables, they could tuck into the delectable dinner prepared by Slanted Door’s Charles Phan, and drink the bottle of bubbly thoughtfully presented for each table. Presentations were made from Photographer Laureate Jim Goldberg and Poet Laureate Ishmael Reed, but the most compelling was made to 17-year-old Tracy Fitzsimmons, who received the High School All-Stars Award for Excellence and the surprise gift of a first-rate trumpet which had belonged to Anderson. When Fitzsimmons picked it up and blew a few riffs, giving a very public audition to a very fine instrument, the crowd knew they were witnessing a jazz great at the start of his career. And then it was time for Jamal to play in his gorgeous, mellifluous style. Creeping into the tune like a slow-moving fog, playing only what is essential, Jamal’s performance left no doubt about his greatness. Even Eastwood’s arrival in a blaze of photo flashes did not detract, and then they were there onstage, congratulating one another as fast friends and seasoned professionals, their identical 82 years worn very lightly on their shoulders. Stevie Wonder telephoned in his congratulations, accolades were exchanged, and the good vibes were palpable. Much was made of the new SFJAZZ Center, the only freestanding building devoted to jazz in America, which is now under construction in Hayes Valley and scheduled to open in early 2013. With just 14% of the funds left to raise for the $63 million project, there was hope that the final portion was resting in the pocket of someone in the room. By the time the dessert was cleared and Maceo Parker’s band had begun to play, the music had worked its magic on every guest. As each guest departed with a delightfully laden Marc Jacobs tote, the metaphor was clear: jazz is an abundant gift which we are fortunate and grateful to receive.

Stars Shine at the 55th San Francisco International Film Festival Awards Night

SFWire Staff — Wed, 09 May 2012 22:41:53 +0000

The San Francisco Film Society awarded Benh Zeitlin, director of the highly imaginative and much acclaimed independent narrative feature Beasts of the Southern Wild, the inaugural Graham Leggat Award at the 55th San Francisco International Film Festival. Awards Night. The Graham Leggat Award honors Leggat and the Film Society’s support of filmmakers through its Filmmaker360 programs.

The Film Society and its highly regarded Youth Education program was the beneficiary of the starstudded fundraiser honoring Zeitlin; Kenneth Branagh, who received the Founder’s Directing Award, given to a master of world cinema; Judy Davis, who was awarded the Peter J. Owens Award honoring an actor whose work exemplifies brilliance, independence and integrity; and David Webb Peoples, recipient of the Kanbar Award for excellence in screenwriting. Susie and Pat McBaine and Katie and Todd Traina chaired the gala, and Melanie and Larry Blum were the honorary chairs.

“Benh Zeitlin, one of the many filmmakers whom the Film Society has supported, has completely captured our imaginations and enthusiasm from our first meeting with him,” said Melanie Blum, the San Francisco Film Society’s interim executive director. “In fact, Graham was part of the original granting panel that awarded Benh one of two SFFS/Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaker postproduction grants, totaling $105,000, for Beasts of the Southern Wild.”

Additional photos and prints for purchase from SF INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: Film Society Awards Night can be found on our site.

Boys & Girls Clubs Honors Steve Strandberg

Lauren Ranes — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:01:08 +0000

The Boys & Girls Clubs of San Francisco held its annual gala this week at the iconic Westin St. Francis. Patrons enjoyed a cocktail reception, seated dinner and music performed by Pride & Joy. The spirit of the evening was one of promise; inspiring narratives given by members of the Boys & Girls Clubs illuminated the success of the organization and the impact it has made on young people and the surrounding communities. Upon receiving honorable mention for his contributions, Steve Strandberg proclaimed, “I have to say this is one of the highlights of my life.” The unprecedented success of BGCSF is due largely in part to its dedicated donors; paddles rose wildly at the post-dinner auction. Some of the supporters in attendance included the organization’s President Rob Connolly, City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Rocky Fried and Felipe and Tracy Gomez.

Park Tavern Picnics for a Good Cause

SFWire Staff — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:58:50 +0000

The recently held first-ever Picnic in the Park raised over $125,000 for University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) cancer research. The inaugural event, held at Park Tavern in Northbeach, boasted over 250 of San Francisco’s finest, at the fundraising reception held to benefit the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Dr. Laura Esserman’s breast cancer research. The evening included cocktails and hors d’oeuvres courtesy of Park Tavern Chef Jennifer Puccio and owner Anna Weinberg, a one of a kind silent and live auction hosted by celebrity chef Tyler Florence, and special performance by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus.

This inaugural event was organized to specifically benefit programs of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, which combines basic science, clinical research, epidemiology/cancer control, and patient care throughout UCSF. From understanding normal cellular processes and replication to discovering the underlying molecular and genetic causes of cancer when these processes go awry, UCSF researchers are committed to moving scientific insights beyond model systems and pursuing their relevance for clinical oncology and cancer prevention.

The Picnic in the Park host committee included: Willie Brown, Moise and Deborah Cohen, Ron and Gayle Conway, Jack Dorsey, Tyler and Tolan Florence, Gary Fredkin and Nanci Bakar Fredkin, Gary Friedman, Ken Fulk, Denise Hale, Kevin and Julia Hartz, Andrew Asa Hindman, Ross and Eve Jaffe, Raj and Sonia Mathai, Joe and Jennifer Montana, Ken Fulk, Michael and Cathy Podell, Keith and Claudia Ross, Summer Tompkins Walker, James Nicholas and Anna Weinberg.

Additional notable guests included: UCSF Chancellor Sue Desmond Hellmann, Ron Conway, James Nicholas, “ABC Bachelor” Ben Flajnik, Celebrity Chef Tyler Florence, Instagram Founder & CEO Kevin Systrom, and Ubercab CEO Travis Kalanick to name a few.

To view all the images from this event visit PICNIC IN THE PARK at Park Tavern Benefiting UCSF CANCER CENTER.