Society Blossoms at Art Alive Event

The Druid-maids foregathered at the full of the moon

Their ivy-crowned visages made strong-hearted men swoon

Who could have guessed that their dance would be over so soon?

From “Wood-nymphs and Petal-babes”

Anonymous

The chap who penned these lines doubtless had long-ago and far-away maidens and moors in mind, but he might as well have been writing about Barbara ZoBell and Pam Allison, who with David Copley constitute the triad of floral devotees chairing the Art Alive celebration of flowers this week at the San Diego Museum of Art.

Barbara and Pam, who could be considered alternatively as late-blooming flower children or as modern representatives of the old Druid school, both worked wreaths and ropelets of ivy into the outfits they wore to the Tuesday gala that inaugurated “Flowers Rediscovered,” as this fifth annual version of Art Alive is called. The three-day event concludes today with lectures and tours of the floral displays that fill nearly all of the museum’s galleries. The exhibits will be open from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

The first petals of Art Alive opened, as it were, with the Tuesday gala, a honeyed confection of a party that had a swarm of more than 800 guests busily buzzing through the museum’s floriated galleries. Karon Luce, whose husband, Gordon, presides over the museum’s board directors, chaired the gala, and invited U.S. Ambassador to Mexico John Gavin to serve as honorary chairman.

Food and drink spilled through the museum’s corridors like so much ambrosia and nectar--indeed, the trays of carpaccio canapes disappeared as quickly as the servers could bring them--but it was the floral arrangements that brought the evening into its logical focus. More than two dozen respected floral designers gathered from around the country are represented in the exhibit.

Most of these designers were on hand to catch the bouquets of compliments tossed their way by the admiring party patrons. Heading up the list was Tom Pritchard, co-owner of New York’s Madderlake flower shop and co-author of the book, “Flowers Rediscovered,” which gave its name to this year’s Art Alive.

“My idea is to return to the beauty of the flowers themselves, and to do it in an understated way,” Pritchard said in explanation of his rather coy arrangement. The blooms, which looked to have been more casually arranged than they doubtless were, filled a trio of receptacles: A coffee cup, a coffee can, and an old cardboard canister that Pritchard found in a corner of the museum’s kitchen.

Although Pritchard’s exhibit maintained a modest scale, most of the arrangements towered over their viewers, and were, in a way, larger than life.

“These are overwhelmingly dramatic. In past years, the flowers have been on a more human scale,” said guest Karen Bjornson. Another guest may have echoed this thought when she commented that the arrangements were not executed by the “loving hands from home” school that formerly contributed the exhibits shown at Art Alive. Among the designers were Randy Harmer, who designs for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Laguna Beach; Lee Cantley and Gregg Randles of North County’s Lion in the Sun, and San Diegans Richard Widney, Rhana Klitgaard and John Snyder.

The Art Alive committee includes Ingrid Hibben, Carol Baumer, Judi Strada, Jane Metzger, Carolyn Hooper, Linda Owen, Mac Canty, Betty DeBakcsy, Nancy Hester, Pat Garrick, Judy Courtemanche, Virginia Luscombe, Jean Paige and Ann Dick.

Among opening-night gala patrons were Edythe Scripps, Yvonne and Dan Larsen, Kathy and George Pardee, Hope and George Wick, Dorothy and Ken Hill, Nancy and Mogens Bildsoe, Helen Casey, Sally and George McClenahan, Rose Lee and Harold Kvaas, Cynthia Starkovsky, and Lee and Larry Cox.

Had Ruth Carpenter chosen a theme color for Friday’s “Symphony International/Celebrities on Parade” fashion luncheon, of which she served as chairman, she doubtless would have hit upon red.

It was a red-letter day for the Auxiliary Council of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra Assn., which helped the symphony through its recent red ink crisis and presented the event as a benefit for the symphony’s Young People’s Concerts program. And then there was the sea of faces that suddenly bloomed cherry red when fashion designer David Hayes announced that, in 1986, bosoms and hips are “in.” (Hayes, who designs for Nancy Reagan and who was referred to by one amused guest as the “Tony McCune of haute couture, “ brought his own brand of crimson to the scene, both in the clothes he presented in the Saks Fifth Avenue-produced show, and in his red, white and blue remarks. The show followed this country’s raid on Libya by just a few days, and Hayes announced to the throng that his clothes are “made in California by Americans for Americans. You can wear these clothes anywhere in the world and be proud you’re Americans.”)

Any of the guests certainly could wear Hayes’ creations anywhere in the world, but most seemed content to wear them to the La Jolla Marriott ballroom, which was the scene of the event. Hayes’ suits were ubiquitous that day, which probably accounted for the pleased expression that seemed never to leave the designer’s face.

Pleased expressions abounded everywhere, though, particularly on the faces of chairman Carpenter, who announced that the luncheon drew a sold-out crowd of 660, and of co-chair Kathi Diamant, who arranged for the long parade of celebrities that waltzed down the runway during the show. Auxiliary Council President Joyce Oliver also looked delighted; she announced that the day’s proceeds represented “the renewal of the council’s promise to the young people of San Diego.”

Nonstop action characterized the event, which opened with a chicken lunch, continued with the fashion show, and concluded with entertainment offered by cellist Karen Freer.

Symphony assistant conductor David Commanday and his wife, Karla, brought up the rear of a celebrity fashion presentation that included San Diego Charger defensive lineman Chuck Ehin and his wife, Barb; television hosts Pat Brown and Dave Hood, and upcoming Symphony Ball chairman Virginia Chasey and her husband, William.

In support of the event’s “Symphony International” theme, several women organized parties of guests who, like themselves, are natives of foreign lands. Connie Hom recruited the Chinese contingent; Dinorah Gardner filled a table with pals from Costa Rica; Japan was represented by a group headed by Kaneko Bishop; Germany, Mexico, Mexican-Americans and the Philippines were represented by delegations captained by, respectively, Anneliese Heald, Yolanda Walther-Meade, Leonor Craig and Ellie Aguilar.

The event committee included Lillian Vogt, Lilo Miller, Gina Lew, Jerry Bishop, Eleanor White, Ernie Grimm, Mary Virginia Gault, Margaret Hilbish, Ralphine Greaves, Katie Rogerson, Louise Guarnotta, Joan Lightner, Betty Hubbard, Lorrie Dunn, Ethelyn Sorenson, Dorie Wynn and Millicent Froelich.

The Single Professionals’ Society, a new organization that proposes to raise money for the performing arts by holding assorted galas, sociables and romps, borrowed the first floor of Neiman-Marcus Saturday for an extravagant get-together called “A Spring Affair to Remember.” The La Jolla Playhouse and the Old Globe Theatre benefited.

The invitations specified black tie, and not one of the 400-plus guests needed to be told twice that high style was the essence of the evening.

“I feel like I’m at a fashion show,” giggled one guest, who added that she thought the guests should have had to enter the party on a models’ runway. Another guest, a newcomer to San Diego, commented that she recognized few of the players, but didn’t mind. “They’re all so pretty,” she said.

Indeed, peacocks prowled the corridors of Neiman-Marcus that evening, and it seemed obvious that hours of primping lay behind the solid show of sartorial splendor. Single Professionals Society founder and President Gary Laturno expressed himself pleased by it all.

“When they leave, we want people to say that they had fun, and that it was a classy, elegant event,” he said. “We also want to make single professionals more aware of the performing arts in San Diego.”

Much of the consciousness-raising that evening was accomplished by the cadre of psychics who variously read the minds and told the futures of the guests. One young woman announced rather startlingly that she was about to have her “entrails” read, which sounded not merely frightening, but rather messy. She returned from the experience unscathed, however, and professed herself more knowledgeable about her future.

Those who already felt secure about their futures spent the present dancing, and indulging in the treats supplied by a dozen restaurants and caterers. The music rolled along until well past midnight.

Party chairman Karen Kaye and co-chairs Susan Hoffman and Kara Kobey presided over a committee that included Mary Armstrong, Jackie Levon, Louis Guasch, Christine Schinelli, Lewis Weinger, Merele Fontayn, Melissa Russell, Debbie Marbut, Bill Bachrach, Bob Crick, Sue Nelson, Robb Butterfield and Susan Clifton.