Guests of Save Venice’s inaugural Biennale Gala in Venice enjoyed a specially curated experience featuring the best of the city’s contemporary art exhibitions and Save Venice’s conservation projects. Save Venice extends its gratitude to the Gala’s Old Master | New Master Committee of experts including Christopher Apostle, Doug Argue, Prosper Assouline, María Magdalena Campos Pons, Lisa Dennison, Frederick Ilchman, Harold Koda, Teresa Longyear & David Bull, Jen Mergel, Abelardo Morrell, Liz Munsell, Otto Naumann, Michele Oka Doner, Matthew Pillsbury, Jorge Pombo, Terence Riley, Philip Rylands, Robert Simon, Rachel Smith, and Terrie Sultan & Christopher French.

PROGRAM
Sunday, June 14:
The Gala began with a sneak peek of the new Rosand Library and Study Center and a visit to the collateral exhibition sponsored by Save Venice, Doug Argue’s Scattered Rhymes, whose work is inspired by the Old Masters. Guests vying to win one of the three magnificent turban rings designed and donated by Venetian jeweler Alberto Nardi and Gioielleria Nardi began searching for clues in Michael LaPlaca’s Venice in the Abstract Treasure Hunt, conceived and designed expressly for the Gala. A garden cocktail party at the Peggy Guggenheim Collection hosted by Elizabeth Locke and John Staelin and dinner sponsored by Matthew White and Thomas Schumacher officially kicked off the celebration, and guests did not let the soggy weather dampen their spirits!

Monday, June 15:
Cat Jagger Pollon generously sponsored activities focusing on Save Venice restorations in honor of Bob Guthrie’s 80th birthday. Save Venice Project Director Frederick Ilchman and members of the Project Committee led guests through the church of San Sebastiano to showcase the impressive results of the eight-year restoration campaign while conservators continued work onsite. Lunch at the Hotel Monaco & Grand Canal included a lecture on the history of the Biennale with talks given by the Peggy Guggenheim Collection’s Director Philip Rylands, and Program Committee members Mary E. Frank and Frederick Ilchman. A private tour of the Accademia Galleries to view the conservation progress on Carpaccio’s monumental Saint Ursula cycle followed lunch, and by evening, guests were joined by scientists and Trustees of the Salk Institute of La Jolla, California for an enchanting cocktail party and dinner in the courtyard of Palazzo Ducale graciously underwritten by Dr. Frederik Paulsen.

Tuesday, June 16:
Thanks to the sponsorship of Richard and Jill Almeida, the third day of the Gala was dedicated to the exploration of the Biennale with visits to the Pavilions in the Giardini of Castello and the Arsenale’s Corderie. Day quickly became night, and Ca’ Rezzonico, the one-time summer home of Cole Porter’s historic parties with stunning frescoes in the 18th-century palazzo’s regal ballroom, set the stage for the black-tie evening with the theme, Anything Goes! 1920s Chic Meets Venetian Baroque Splendor. A surprise performance by 2014 Tony Award-Winner James Monroe Iglehart (who won for his role as Genie in Disney’s Aladdin) and accompanist James Abbott was the perfect nightcap to a delightful evening. Dinner was generously sponsored by Mary Kathryn and Alex Navab, and the musical performance was made possible with support from Viacom and the vision of Matthew White and Thomas Schumacher.

Wednesday, June 17:
The morning began in the Granai of the Belmond Hotel Cipriani with Frederick Ilchman’s lecture, Controversial Art in Venice: Then and Now, and was followed by a lavish lunch on the Giudecca, graciously donated by Belmond Hotel Cipriani. Later that evening, in an exceptional end to four fabulous days of art, Venice, and Save Venice, guests were brought to the historic Arsenale where cocktails and dinner in Tese 113 fortified guests for an exuberant evening of dancing Studio 54-style in La Torre di Porta Nuova. Guests said their farewells atop the tower’s rooftop terrace featuring sweeping views of the Venetian lagoon.