Architects, engineers compete in bake-off fundraiser
The second annual Dessert Before Dinner With Bubbles and Bon Bons fundraiser will be held Sunday at Garvan Woodland Gardens Pavilion and guests will be treated to an Architecture Bake-off.
The bake-off is an edible design challenge, where award-winning architects and designers will transfer their design talents from buildings to cakes by baking, designing, and constructing an iconic building, a news release said.
The fundraiser, hosted by the Alex Foundation, supports increasing access to STE+AM education, in particularly rural areas, providing much-needed financial assistance in areas of academic and educational disparity. STE+AM represents science, technology, engineering, plus architecture and math. These rural areas are known to have limited access to such programs, it said.
“We have three architecture firms competing,” Angela Courtney, executive director of the
Alex Foundation, told The Sentinel-Record. “They’re going to bake the cake at their homes. We want to make sure that it has the original taste from their oven. And they’re going to design and construct their cake at the venue. That should be a real crowd-pleaser.”
The firms competing include Cromwell Architects Engineers and Woods Group Architects, both of Little Rock, and Hot Springs firm Nature’s Angle.
Architect Brent Shelor, from Nature’s Angle, told the newspaper, “We’re basically building models out of cake, which I’ve had to build a lot of models in school, but haven’t had to build one in a long time. So, it’ll be a challenge for me, but they’re always fun to do, as well as put on a show for people who want to see what architects and engineers do. So yeah, I’m super excited.”
While he has never tried to build a model out of cake, Shelor said, jokingly, “I’ve seen it on TV shows, it always goes horribly. So I’m hoping I can put on a better show than what they do on TV. I baked cakes when I was a kid, it’s kind of fallen out of my passion … one of my things to do, due to the fact that other things have taken over my life, but I’m excited to get back into baking a cake and seeing what sort of structure I can make with it. Yeah, I think it’ll be a lot of fun and entertaining.”
Judging the bake-off will be bakery connoisseurs and owners, including Ann Potter Baking, Cocoa Bell Chocolates, Community Bakery and Sweet Love Bakes.
Also, Billboard charted hit songwriter, recording artist and music producer Steve Azar will be playing his Delta-style music, with a bit of blues and country, and Arkansas comedian, Nate Williams will host the event.
Guests will also hear well wishes and greetings from supporters, including George Takei, an American actor and producer, internationally known for his role as Hikaru Sulu, helmsman of the fictional starship USS Enterprise in the television series “Star Trek.”
“We’re so blessed to have Mr. George Takei,” Courtney said. “He was interred at the Rohwer, (Ark.) Japanese (internment) camp when he was a little boy, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He majored in architecture, actually, for two years before he went into acting. His father wanted him to be an architect. So, we got him sending us some well wishes.”
Included with a purchased ticket, guests can tour Garvan Woodland Gardens, savor bubbles and bon bons, enjoy a fabulously inspired and delicious dinner, the release said.
The celebration will be a twoday event to coincide with World Architecture Day, an annual observance on the contributions of architects to the built environment. On Monday, Oct. 4, Alex Foundation, in partnership with Heifer International, will donate books on the built environment to elementary students in Hot Springs and the Southeast Delta.
“There is also a health benefit to having dessert before dinner,” Courtney said. “A study published in the Journal of Experimental
Psychology: Applied found that indulging in dessert before a meal could lead to healthier eating overall.”
Event sponsors are Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Better Community Development, FORGE Community Loan Fund, The Law Office of Furonda Brasfield, Life Skills For Youth, Nabholz Charitable Foundation, Sam M. Walton College of Business Office of Diversity and Inclusion-University of Arkansas and Writing Our World Publishing. Outdoor media sponsor is Lamar Advertising. Face shields sponsor is Supha Xayprasith-Mays.
Garvan Woodland Gardens, an entity of the University of Arkansas System, has COVID-19 protocols in place, including making masks and social distancing optional for vaccinated individuals. Masks and social distancing are required for unvaccinated individuals.
Tickets to the event, which will be held from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday, are $35 in advance and $45 on the event day and can be purchased at https://www.centralarkansastickets.com.