Media Relations
Press Release:
MEDIA CONTACT: Carol Lewis
561-297-0245, clewis36@fau.edu
FAU Libraries’ ‘Dia
de Muertos Champagne Salon’ Brings Jaffe Center
Closer to Goal for a Papermaking Studio
BOCA RATON, FL (November 19, 2010) - A second champagne salon hosted by the Arthur and Mata Jaffe Center for Book Arts at Florida Atlantic University Libraries recently raised $1,500 to open a hand papermaking studio. The champagne salon, hosted with a Mexican holiday theme, attracted 25 guests, including FAU President Dr. Mary J. Saunders.
Among other guests were book artist and Jaffe center donor Marianne Haycook; Jane Brownley; Carol Walker; Alyx Kellington, director of arts & cultural education, Palm Beach County Cultural Council; Larry Dieterich; Arthur Jaffe, founder and curator of the Jaffe center; Rita Pellen, assistant dean of FAU Libraries, and husband Alain Pellen; Arthur Williams, art collector and Jaffe center donor; Edward Moquin; Maggie Von Grote; Santo Tarantino; Maggie Delp, a member of the FAU University Club; John Valentine, Ph.D., FAU faculty; Megan Boehm, student and volunteer; Bill Landis; Kristin McGlothlin, FAU graduate student and volunteer; Douglas McGlothlin; John and Millie Cutrone; Marietta Gabrielsen; and Patricia McCarthy.
The Jaffe center, located on the third floor of the Wimberly Library, houses one of the nation’s most prominent collections of books handmade by artists. The studio is proposed to open in 2011 in FAU’s T-6 building, a World War II barracks. It will be open to the public, similar to the book making classes, concerts, films and exhibitions offered by the center.
Renovation of the space will cost about $30,000. A previous champagne salon, a special inaugural fundraiser in July, raised $1,400, and the center has raised some money through workshops.
“The champagne salons have been one means of reaching our goal,” said John Cutrone, a book artist and the center’s programs director. “We hope to announce news in a couple of weeks about additional funding that will make our goal a reality.”
The fundraiser featured a theme in honor of Dia de Muertos, Mexico’s famous Day of the Dead celebration, which was celebrated just days before the event. Colorful paper banners with chiseled designs and handmade paper lanterns hung from the center’s ceiling, and special handmade lanterns decorated each table. Mexican music and jazz recordings set the mood for the celebration. Cutrone closed the evening with an enlightening presentation of artists’ books from the Jaffe collection and local ghost stories.
Rocco’s Taco & Tequila Bar donated the food, which was a Mexican buffet. Convivio Bookworks, a book arts studio in downtown Lake Worth owned by Cutrone and Seth Thompson, donated money for a sparkling Argentinian Chardonnay that was served. Guests also took home a festive clay calavera, courtesy of Convivio.
-FAU-
About Florida Atlantic University:
Florida Atlantic University opened its doors in 1964 as
the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University
serves more than 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students on
seven campuses and sites. Building on its rich tradition as a
teaching university, with a world-class faculty, FAU hosts 10
colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts & Letters,
the College of Business, the College for Design and Social
Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of
Engineering & Computer Science, the Graduate College, the
Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt
College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing
and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. For more
information, visit
www.fau.edu.
