San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art honors Nion McEvoy.
We’re fairly certain we’d never catch Chronicle Books chairman and philanthropist Nion McEvoy wearing a gorilla suit. But Saturday in Napa’s Carneros region at di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art as McEvoy received the inaugural Di Rosa Award, it was clear McEvoy shares a similar audacious spirit with the late Rene di Rosa, who’d famously protest Sonoma County developments in that hirsute costume.
Led by Linda Fine, the Centennial Gala soiree — featuring a Fraiche Catering dinner, the Bob Kenmatsu Band and roving accordionists — celebrated di Rosa, a groundbreaking art collector and bon vivant who was born 100 years ago this March. And some 200 art swells braved wild weather to cheer McEvoy and his fellow artist honoree, cyanotype photographer Meghann Riepenhoff, whose work is admired and collected by McEvoy.
Di Rosa Executive Director
Robert Sain ticked off McEvoy’s many accomplishments, noting the honoree’s influence via the many organizations he supports or serves as a trustee: SFJazz, SFMOMA, Aperture, Smithsonian American Art Museum and board president of SFFilm.
“Nion is not only a collector but has an unwavering commitment to art and artists. He revels in ideas and social engagement. Through his McEvoy Foundation for the Arts in Dogpatch, Nion is
determined to have an impact on our cultural ecology,” toasted Sain, with a tease. “And all this from a lapsed rock musician and retired meditation teacher.”
Rene di Rosa also dovetails with McEvoy’s personal history: After serving in World War II, di Rosa was a reporter at The San Francisco Chronicle, founded by McEvoy’s greatgrandfather, who also established the de Young Museum.
And like McEvoy’s late mother, a social justice advocate and former Chronicle publisher Nan McEvoy ,di Rosa was influenced by the professors-turned-legendary artists of UC Davis, where di Rosa studied viticulture.
The match for his 217-acre di Rosa art preserve atop rolling Carneros hills was sparked when di Rosa connected with the university’s towering Bay Area Figurative artists Roy De Forest, Manuel Neri, William T. Wiley and Wayne Thiebaud, a dear friend of Mrs. McEvoy.
Nion McEvoy was born in San Francisco but grew up in Washington, D.C., where his love of art was inspired by visits with his mother to stellar museums in our nation’s capital. Later as an English major at UC Santa Cruz, McEvoy befriended painters, poets and musicians.
“My mother and Rene were born just two months apart. This institution and Rene’s legacy, who shared my mother’s connections of The Chronicle, winemaking, art collecting and a zest for life, feels like something she would’ve undertaken,” McEvoy enthused. “I’ve reached a point in life where I have the resources to assist artists and art institutions, big and small, and it is a joy.”
Good RX: Prior to the Feb. 2 open-house preview of the new California Pacific Medical Center campus on Van Ness, some dedicated supporters enjoyed a private tour and delectable spread (a Betty Zlatchin repast and blooms by Flowers Claire Marie) at the inaugural CPMC Women’s & Children’s Health Leadership Council luncheon.
Led by council chairwoman Lisa Lenzo, 220 guests cheered the state-of-the art hospital and keynote speech by CPMC Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider.
“Our council work for CMPC is a labor of love. Every one of us here has experienced life-changing care from the doctors and nurses who guided us through medical needs and challenges,” noted Lenzo. “So the name of today’s event, ‘Your Wellness, Your Future,’ is especially meaningful.”
The female council is also meaningful: CPMC, founded in 1854 as Children’s Hospital
to assist Gold Rush immigrants, was California’s first hospital created exclusively for the care of women — a radical concept then, championed by pioneering co-founder Dr. Charlotte Blake Brown, one of the first female doctors to practice on the West Coast.
“For more than a century, this concept of women’s empowerment in taking control of their health is part of CPMC’s DNA,” said Lenzo, also lauding modern-era hospital leaders: CPMC founding board chair Katie Cardinal; council founder Connie Mardikian; and council member Wendy Armstrong.
Though Lenzo and her husband, CMPC Foundation Board trustee Christopher Lenzo, tend to shun the spotlight, foundation board chairman Sloan Barnett swung it back in their direction.
“Around here, we call Lisa the queen of CPMC. On the council and as an honorary member of our board, Lisa is an extraordinary, dedicated force,” toasted Barnett. “Thank you for allowing your husband to spend so much time at our meetings. It is an honor to call you our queen.”
La dolce vita: Renaissance woman Maria Manetti Shrem was recently honored at the Italian Consulate, where her praises were literally sung by tenor Christopher Oglesby.
Shrem, a native of Florence, Italy, and a former fashion executive, received the Grande Ufficiale dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia, one of Italy’s highest honors presented by Consul General Lorenzo Ortona and Armando Varricchio, Italian ambassador to the U.S.
With her husband, philanthropist Jan Shrem, they established their eponymous art museum at UC Davis and generously support San Francisco Opera with funds devoted to emerging stars, luminary performers, Italian interpreters and the conductor.
“One of Maria’s greatest loves is opera, an art form all about passion, beauty and life force. She not only believes in those values but also lives them,” toasted S.F. Opera Executive Director Matthew Shilvock.
“The founders of San Francisco Opera were Italian businessmen,” he added. “And in the 21st century, Maria has taken up their baton with great energy and passion, opening the doors of possibility to the highest levels of Italian culture around the world.”