RAM Invites All to “Evening in Amsterdam”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, April 2, 2024
CONTACT: Julie Moncrief, RAM Development Director
479-784-2787 / julie@fsram.org
RAM Invites All to “Evening in Amsterdam”
The Fort Smith Regional Art Museum (RAM) will hold its second “Art ‘Round the World” fundraising gala, this year themed “Evening in Amsterdam,” on Saturday, April 26 from 6:00 to 11:30 p.m. The event will be held at the Fort Smith Convention Center. Tickets and sponsorships are available; registration can be made at www.fsram.org/gala2024.
RAM raises support through the gala to fund its variety of free programs, including exhibitions, art classes, and community programs. The non-profit museum is in its 76th year of operations.
Attendees to “Evening in Amsterdam” will experience the sights, cuisine, and art of the historic city known as “the Venice of the North.” Daren Bobb, evening anchor of 5News, will emcee the event.
“Our goal with the Art ‘Round the World gala is to extend what we do as an art museum every day into a grand celebration, and that is to be educational in a really enjoyable way,” Julie Moncrief, RAM development director, says. “Our guests get a taste of the culture of a grand city and a reminder of some of the art produced by that city’s renowned artists.”
In addition to featuring Dutch cuisine, from appetizers and entree to Dutch apple pie, “Evening in Amsterdam” will introduce guests to Dutch artists Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Vincent van Gogh, Piet Mondrian, and M.C. Escher.
“The Fort Smith Little Theatre plays a wonderfully helpful role by providing the living history artists, costumed and ready to share about their art and life,” Moncrief says.
The evening will begin with a cocktail hour in the north rotunda, where guests can bid on a variety of silent auction items. Those include 6” x 6” Dutch-themed paintings by local artists, retail goods donated by a variety of local businesses, and larger paintings. Live classic jazz by Al Grzech and Friends will be enjoyed as guests sample Dutch appetizers, visit with the Dutch artists, and sample the “Starry Night” specialty drink, plus Amsterdam’s famous beers and more. Raffle tickets, on sale now and at the gala, will land a lucky winner with a luxurious diamond and pearl earring and necklace set, modeled by The Girl with a Pearl Earring, the figure in Vermeer’s famous painting.
During the plated dinner, guests will be treated to large projections of vintage Amsterdam scenes, a performance of the Viennese waltz by Just Art and Dance owner TK Rakowski and partner Megan Ratliff, and a live auction featuring a trip for two to Amsterdam and several other trips, parties, and dinners.
The evening will wrap up with dancing to the Larry B Soul Experience.
“As in Amsterdam, our gala will be filled with lovely flowers and windmills,” Moncrief says. “We hope for a fantastic evening with friends and newcomers to RAM, and a healthy boost to RAM’s programs.”
For more information, visit RAM’s gala website, www.fsram.org/gala2024, or call 479-784-2787.
