Art Museum "Japan Craze" Honors Far East

Designer Mary McFadden, David Brigham,

Justine Cushing

Several of Newport’s finest found themselves going Japanese for a night at the Newport Art Museum’s annual dinner dance fundraiser, with 2010’s theme “The Japan Craze” - (perhaps a nod to the soon to follow Black ships Festival?) Board President Rod O’Hanley, along with Event Co-Chairs Anne and Peter Damon and NAM Executive Director Lisa Goddard welcomed guests to cocktails and hors d’oeuvres inside the Museum’s galleries. The rooms soon became very full, with the night totaling over 300 supporters in attendance.

The Art Museum chose to honor longtime patrons Jimmy Coleman and Minnie Cushing Coleman for their contributions to the organization and its education programming through the Minnie and Jimmy Coleman Center for Creative Studies. Many members of the Cushing family showed up on Minnie’s behalf, including Howard and Nora Cushing, their sons Jamie and Howard (Cushing) , Justine Cushing, and several others of the family. Fashion designer Mary McFadden, a close family friend of the Cushings, showed up in elegant floral attire. Guests had the option of black tie or Japanese-inspired garb, and the party attracted a mixture of both. Hors d’oeuvres, too, had a Japanese flair, featuring sushi as well as chicken and shrimp satay and other delicacies.

Diane & Captain Nicholas Brown

In attendance were Admiral Jim Hogg, Captain Nicholas and Diane Brown, Louis Fazzano and Constance Evrard, Happy Van Beuren, Joanne Tucker, Anne and Matt Hamilton, Genii Pell, Sandra Ourusoff, David Ford, and Alice Lynch. Dinner was served in a glowing pink tent on the Museum lawn with vibrant oriental table linens, centerpieces and place settings. Silent auction items ranged from a holiday in Paris to a William Heydt portrait, to box seats at the Celtics and even the opportunity to “name the museum” for a day and designate your own special holiday!

Following dinner, guests danced to the hot, up-tempo beats of Freestyle. All in all, the event raised about a quarter of a million dollars for the Museum – a great success.

--Amanda M. Grosvenor