6 minute read
FEATURE
2019 Overture Gala
ArtsBridge Foundation’s Overture Gala to feature big names and big prizes to support arts education
STORY BY Janet Roberts
ARTSBRIDGE OVERTURE GALA March 21
Tickets are $350 each. In addition, sponsorships range from $1,000 to $25,000.
To purchase tickets, visit ArtsBridgeGA.org or call the Foundation at 770-916-2805. .
Something special happens just about every time Jennifer Dobbs welcomes students to a performance in the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre’s John A. Williams Theatre.
“I’ll be standing there with the kids and drawing energy from their excitement, and then I’ll feel it – a tug on my leg, and a student will be looking up at me and asking, ‘Can I do that?’ And I always answer, ‘Yes, you can!’,” she says.
Experiences like those are great motivators for Dobbs, executive director of the ArtsBridge Foundation, and her staff, who are knee-deep in planning for the annual Overture Gala that benefits the Foundation in its mission to support arts education, outreach, and community engagement for young people from all across Georgia.
This year’s event is March 21. Its theme is “Denim & Diamonds,” a nod to the evening’s mainstage entertainment – an evening with Jay Leno, former “Tonight Show” host and raconteur, author, and
Kristen Chenoweth makes a surprise appearance at 2019 Overture Gala.
car enthusiast, who’s noted for his casual jeansclad appearances, even in confines as glamorous as Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre.
For the price of a $350 ticket, gala attendees can attend a cocktail reception, enjoy a gourmet dinner and compete for a long list of big-ticket prizes in both silent and live auctions before heading out to premier seats for Leno’s appearance.
But Leno won’t be the only awesome talent witnessed that evening. Georgia student musicians will perform during the reception and dinner, including budding performers from C.J. Hicks Elementary School in Conyers and students from Lambert High School in Suwanee who received a Shuler Hensley Award for Overall Production at last year’s Georgia High School Musical Theatre Awards.
“I promise you, you will not believe how talented these young children are,” Dobbs enthuses.
There’s also a new twist in the evening’s pre-Leno entertainment. Monica Pearson, the Emmy® Award-winning broadcast journalist and TV anchor, will step into the spotlight once again, this time to conduct a live auction to raise money to support ArtsBridge Foundation’s Adopt A School program.
Among the prizes scheduled for the evening: • A luxurious Waldorf Astoria resort vacation package • A luxury box for an Atlanta Braves game at Truist Park • An Atlanta United Football Club box at Mercedes-Benz Stadium
This year’s honorary chair is Atlanta’s former First Lady, Valerie Jackson. For the first time ever, the gala chair position is a family affair as Samit Roy, CEO of Scicom Infrastructure Services, Inc. and an ArtsBridge Foundation board member, is joined by his wife, Mita, their son Sid, Scicom’s executive vice president of operations and client support, and his wife, Elisa.
The Overture Gala is one of the highlights of Atlanta’s charitable events calendar, but all the fun and games have a serious purpose: to support the Foundation’s arts education and outreach programs.
“Our mission is to provide access to arts education programs for underserved and Title 1 schools and their students,” Dobbs says. “What we really do is to help remove barriers to our programming so these students can receive the supplemental arts education that other schools can access more easily.”
The arts have a critical role to play in a student’s education, Dobbs says.
“The arts provide a more holistic approach to a student’s education. We know through research by the National Endowment for the Arts, the U.S. Department of Education and other authorities that exposure to the arts improves critical thinking, ingenuity, social skills, academic scores, and more.”
Putting a child in an auditorium seat for a performance like the ArtsKSU Revue, an ArtsBridge Foundation Field Trip featuring performers from the College of the Arts at Kennesaw State University, is more than just a day away from school, though.
“You don’t have to go into theater or music to benefit from the arts,” Dobbs says. “In the workforce, we can see how impactful the arts are to creativity, ingenuity, and leadership. An NEA study shows that the arts have an impact on the economy and Gross Domestic Product that’s greater than certain sectors like construction.
“We are improving their vision and knowledge of the world, helping them out as human beings, and this has a positive impact on the U.S. workforce.”
The arts are big business in Georgia. A recent report from the Georgia Council for the Arts estimated that creative industries – film and TV production, music, theatre, dance, digital entertainment, and cultural institutions – have a combined economic impact of $62.5 billion.
But the most important thing the Foundation can do is to help students understand that the arts are for them, whether as creators and performers or as people who appreciate them, Dobbs says.
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“We’re trying to create arts supporters, but we’re also trying to create well-rounded people in our community and give them tools to be leaders, innovators and creative people,” she says.
What the gala will provide, in turn, is awareness among attendees that their money will be well spent.
“We spend 78 cents of every donated dollar on programming,” Dobbs says. “We love having students perform at our galas because we want to show our attendees that no matter what background you come from, the talent and capability exists. We have highly talented students, whether they attend Title 1 schools, come from home schools or private schools. Everyone has something to give!” Students arriving for field trip to Cobb Energy Centre.
Lambert High School, 2019 Overall Production Shuler Award winner.
Event Information What: “Denim & Diamonds,” the Overture Gala to benefit the ArtsBridge Foundation
When: Saturday, March 21
Where: Events begin at 5 p.m. with a cocktail reception in the Prefunction room, followed by dinner at 5:45 p.m., a live auction, and student performances, both in the Kessel D. Stelling Ballrooms, and attendance at “An Evening with Jay Leno” in the John A. Williams Theatre.
Top image: Jackson Hole artists Kathryn Mapes Turner, Amy Ringholz, September Vhay, Kathy Wipfler and Amy Lay. Bottom row: AWA artists © Claudia Hartley, Western Homestead, Acrylic, 30 x 40”; © Lisa Gleim, The Secret Keeper, Soft Pastel, 40 x 30”
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Through June 7
Spotlighting new works by Jackson Hole artists Kathryn Mapes Turner, Amy Ringholz, September Vhay, Kathy Wipfler and Amy Lay.
Making Their Mark: American Women Artists
May 27 – August 23
A juried exhibition featuring paintings and sculptures by members of the American Women Artists.
