Arts strf Life
Above: Josh Opperer of Huntington Woods, Noah Tepperman
of Windsor and Julie Zuckerman of Birmingham
Left: Event co-chairs Nicole Eisenberg of Bloomfield Hills
and Melissa Shulman of Birmingham
Above: Founders Junior Council
coordinator Jason Laughlin
Right: Event co-chair Brian
Satovsky of Birmingham
Mixed Moments
Cocktails and beautiful glass exhibit
draw young partygoers to the DIA.
Bottom row, from left.
Nicole Kovacs of West
Bloomfield
David Viviano of
Northville and
Stephen Eisenberg of
West Bloomfield
Dr. Phil Arbit of
Farmington Hills and
Francine Krasner of
West Bloomfield
John Bloom of
Bloomfield Hills —
Fanfare Arts
Foundation
executive director
S
urrounded by a rainbow of color-
ful glass creations, more than 300
art lovers came to "see and be
seen" at the Detroit Institute of Arts.
They attended a chic cocktail party
called ArtSeen, host-
ed jointly by the
DIA Founders
Junior Council and
the Jewish
Federation of
Metropolitan
Detroit's Young
Adult Division.
The fashionable
ROBIN
partygoers sipped
S CHWARTZ cocktails, shared
Columnist
conversations and
enjoyed a private
showing of the Olnick Spanu Murano
glass collection, which was on display
through February.
"I love the colors
and the texture," said
Nicole Kovacs of West
Bloomfield after
strolling through the
vibrant glass exhibit.
"It's nice to see so
many friends and familiar faces down-
town enjoying the arts," she added.
The Founders Junior Council, one of
the DIKs largest auxiliary groups, puts
on several hip and trendy ArtSeen events
each year. The goal is to strengthen
Metro Detroit's cultural scene by intro-
ducing new generations of supporters to
the DIA collections. For the Jan. 20
event, the group joined forces with YAD
to bring in more young professionals
who share an interest in the arts.
"We wanted to reach out to another
prominent organization in the commu-
nity," said Jason Laughlin, Founders
Junior Council coordinator.
"The Jewish community's interest has
been amazing," he added.
YAD President Brian Satovsky,
agreed. "It was a great opportunity to
join with another group to enjoy an
evening of culture and art," he said.
The Olnick Spanu Collection, one of
the finest private Murano glass collec-
tions in the world, was the focal point of
the event. The collection, compiled by
Nancy Olnick and Giorgio Spanu of
New York City, includes about 300
pieces of Murano glass from the Italian
island's best arti-
sans. Fabio Giske
of Hazel Park, Mara and Andrew
Moss of Birmingham and Scott
Kaufman and Josh Opperer, both
of Huntington Woods, were
among those spotted admiring
the collection.
"It's absolutely spectacular," said
Nicole Eisenberg, one of the
event chairs who also is a
Founders Junior Council board
member.
The party spilled over into the
DIA's Kresge Court, which has
the feel of an outdoor brick
courtyard. There, the mingling
continued with the music of a DJ
playing in the background.
Dr. David Viviano of
Bloomfield Hills was among the
guests enjoying hors d'oeuvres
and the atmosphere. "I feel there's
a tremendous loss of funding for
the arts," he said, explaining why
he supports the DIA.
"Without the arts, there's a void
in our society that can't be filled
anywhere else," he said. ❑
Nimrod and Varda
Rosenthal of Southfield