Gala raises $500,000 for Denver Museum of Nature & Science
Invitations to Perception, the 2019 Museum After Dark, advised those planning to attend to “Prepare for the unexpected.”
This tantalizing nugget was fair warning that attendees would be in for a magical evening that would involve the Five Senses — sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell — while proving that not everything is what it seems to be.
For example: At one of the food stations, chefs had prepared what looked like an egg cooked sunnyside up. It wasn’t. The “yolk” was a perfectly round mound of mango puree and the “white” was vanilla panna cotta.
Nearby, at a vignette titled “What Did I Just Touch?,” museum volunteers encouraged folks to stick their hands into the opening of a box and try to figure out what was in it. Trust me, things that felt slimy or furry weren’t what you feared they might be. And what you thought might be safe, wasn’t.
The event chaired by John and Katie Levisay and Anne M. Mccarthy raised $500,000, a sum that will allow Denver Museum of Nature & Science to grant free admission to 29,000 school children and organized youth groups in the coming year so that they may experience programs designed to “nurture and empower the next generation of explorers and innovators.”
In a welcome move, museum president George Sparks put the kibosh on the speeches, acknowledgments, live-auction bidding and paddle-raisers that, while traditional and/ or profitable, can kill the happy vibe of a great party. Instead, electronic bids could be placed for silent auction items that were discretely displayed on tables set up in the Morgridge Family Exploration Center; ditto for the bigticket items like trips and jewelry that flashed on screens throughout the venue.
And Sparks — with his wife, Dr. Shandra Wilson, at his side — moved through the crowd to deliver a personal welcome and words of thanks to as many of the 750 guests as possible.
Longtime DMNS supporters Sonnie and Dr. Richard Talley were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, and treated themselves to limousine transportation to the gala. Their grandchildren rode with them; while Dick and Sonnie toasted their anniversary with Dom Perignon, the kids enjoyed Coca-cola and Doritos.
Jim Garcia, founder and chief executive officer of Clinica Tepeyac, was among those exploring and enjoying with friends that included Marcela de la Mar and her husband, John Fair, and Lucille Rivera, executive director of the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council, and her son, lobbyist True Apodaca.
Henry Gordon, Wayne Hutchens, Peter Dea, Buz Koelbel, Naresh Mandava, Christine Marquez-hudson, Tim Ryan, Leo Tilman, M. Ray Thomasson and Chris Chavez were among the museum trustees on hand for the festivities. Trustee Levin Appel was a major sponsor of the annual fundraiser, along with Steve and Susan Halstedt, Don and Susie Law, Hal and Ann Logan and Blair and Kristin Richardson. Kristin Richardson was unable to attend, so Blair invited his daughter, Devon, to attend with him.
Others supporting the cause were Vectra Bank president Bruce Alexander and his wife, Lisa; Michelle Lucero, chief administrative officer and general counsel for Children’s Hospital Colorado; former U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman; Cy and Lyndia Harvey; Roger Ogden and Tauna Lockhart; Luis Colon and Toti Cadavid; Clay and Sawyer Gordon; Merrill Shields; Alisa Koval; Kelly and Peter Hodges; and attorney Doug Friednash with girlfriend Nicole Malo.