a blast from the past:

The Plains Art Museum

Gala Dazzles

The sleek, silver DeLorean attracted passersby like a magnet. Grown adults grinned like children and mugged for photos in their formalwear. Couples slung their arms around their date’s shoulders and groups of friends struck a pose, as drivers did a double take and craned their necks for a better view. The vehicle, made famous by the “Back to the Future” film franchise, was just one of the many surprises at the Plains Art Museum Spring Gala, one of the biggest and most-anticipated parties of the season.

The annual event, which took place this year on May 3, is the museum’s largest fundraiser of the year. The money raised on this playfully raucous night is a vital part of the Plains Art Museum’s ongoing mission to offer free admission to all. And while the artists, philanthropists, art collectors, event sponsors and theme party enthusiasts who fill all three levels of the museum certainly have this noble mission in mind, the event’s high energy art auction, wine tasting from Happy Harry’s Bottle Shops, tempting hors d’oeuvres and desserts from Catering by Concordia, Chef’s Table Catering, Urban

Foods Catering and Nichole’s Fine Pastry and Café, live music and electric atmosphere offer their own rewards.

So too, does the promise of an excellent theme party. While modern cocktail attire is always welcome at the Plains Art Museum Spring Gala, most regular attendees are inspired in some way by each year’s theme. Fargo resident Emily Brooks, dressed in a sparkling black gown and eye-catching hat, was one of them.

“When I found out the theme for this year’s gala was ‘Time Machine,’ I instantly thought of ‘The Great Gatsby,’” says Brooks. “I collect hats and fascinators, so of course I wanted my outfit to include one.”

Jodi Borgen was inspired by the 1920s as well. She flew back from Colorado to don a sequined flapper dress and join her friends for what’s now become a spring tradition.

“We do this every year,” she says. “We call it adult prom.”

A walk through the first floor gallery, where guests were busy eyeing the items in the art auction, revealed looks as varied as the art on display. Dapper men in top hats rubbed shoulders with 60s waifs in maxi dresses and flower crowns. A woman pondering a painting gave a formal 80s minidress new relevance. A man dressed like a prehistoric cave dweller ambled by. Women wore 1940s flocks topped with fur stoles and pearls. You could spot the occasional gentleman in tweed breeches, a handful of Greek and Roman goddesses and at least one Renaissance maiden.

As Post Traumatic Funk Syndrome took the stage and the dance floor began to fill, Fargo’s Ashley Johnson stood out among the partygoers in her demure look. Dressed in a powder blue dress and a sweet little white hat, Johnson created her look in homage to another powerful woman of the past.

“I have been obsessed with Lucille Ball since I was a little girl,” Johnson says. “Aside from the whole, like, subservient woman thing, I’d love to live in the 50s.”

In contrast, Hilary Ray took her inspiration from a stylized version of the future. The Moorhead resident created a gleaming silver dress (which included a hidden hula hoop for an outrageously curvaceous hem) and painted a helmet fashioned from Styrofoam she found in the floral department at Michaels and odds and ends from Ace Hardware to bring her vision to life.

“I relish any opportunity to dress up,” she says. “My idea was a person of the future as viewed by set designers in 1962.”

As the clock ticked toward midnight, billowing princess gowns were topped with sensible jackets and more than a few high-heeled slippers were tucked away in favor of more sensible flats for the walk back to the car. The goddesses in their comfortable sandals fared better, twirling on the dance floor deep into the night.

Next May, on a night much like this one, many of the revelers will be back at the Plains Art Museum for the Spring Gala yet again. When the festivities are this fun — and benefit a worthy cause — the magic repeats every year. [ aw ]