SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 17 / 6-10 p.m.
Andy Millner, Floating World (Tree of the Holly Hocks) (detail), 2022. Pigment print, mulberry paper on linen, courtesy of the artist.
Laumeier’s annual fall fundraiser is a chic evening of outdoor libations, fine dining, and live music. This year’s theme, Out of the Woods, celebrates the concurrent fall exhibition Forest Through the Trees and the project by Visiting Artist In Residence Jean Shin. The theme is also inspired by our collective desire to put difficult challenges behind us and emerge into the light of hope and optimism. All proceeds from The Big Dinner support Laumeier’s dedication to creativity, community connections, and the restorative benefits of art and nature.
This year, ticket buyers have a choice between purchasing individual seats to experience joining a communal table or VIP seats at exclusive tables for a more private experience with their chosen dinner companions.
Table and Ticket sales for The Big Dinner 2022 are now closed. If you have already purchased tickets, please check your email to ensure you have provided contact and meal information for you and your dining companions. Contact bigdinner@laumeier.org with any questions about the event.
Event Itinerary
6 p.m. / Cocktails
7:30 p.m. / Seated Dinner
9 p.m. / Live Music
Suggested Attire
Comfortable party attire that is suitable for walking on grass and enjoying an evening outdoors. Woodsy, leafy, and tree-inspired outfits encouraged!
Event Technology
We are using the online platform ClickBid for an easy and contactless event experience. That means ALL attendees must register online through ClickBid prior to the evening of The Big Dinner, regardless of whether or not they are making purchases. Attendee contact information will be used to send important event information leading up to and during The Big Dinner. This also means that you’ll need to bring your fully charged phone on the night of the event!
The Little Dinner Auction
The Little Dinners are exclusive, curated dining experiences. These unique opportunities will be sold via a digital auction held through ClickBid during the event. Preview the Little Dinner auction lots below!
LOT 1: Live Jazz Dinner for four
Enjoy a special show at Jazz at the Bistro in the Grand Center Arts District. This package includes valet parking, a concert performance, a chance to meet the performers back stage, dinner, and drinks. This Little Dinner is generously donated by Kelley McCarthy and Ron Saverin in collaboration with Jazz St. Louis.
LOT 2: Steakhouse Dinner for six
You and your dining companions will enjoy a mouthwatering dinner at Kreis’ Steakhouse & Bar, a locally owned and family-run restaurant in Frontenac, celebrated for their outstanding steaks, world famous prime rib and fresh seafood. Each guest will enjoy three courses (salad, entrée, side and dessert), and the group will share three bottles of wine for the table. This Little Dinner is generously donated by Jennifer and Nicholas Tompras in collaboration with Kreis’ Steakhouse.
LOT 3: Ukrainian Dinner for eight
Enjoy a Ukrainian dinner in the home of artist Patricia Olynyk. The conversion of a former church in Maplewood into this private home been featured in Alive Magazine. Dinner for eight will feature Ukrainian music and delicacies such as solyanka, pelmeni, blintzes, golubtzy, and veriniki, as well as a Ukrainian-inspired cocktail. A portion of the proceeds of this lot will be donated to Razom for Ukraine, a nonprofit organization advocating for and providing humanitarian relief to the people of Ukraine. This Little Dinner is generously donated by Patricia Olynyk.
LOT 4: Art, Wine and Dinner for eight
This luxurious evening will be a feast for the eyes as well as the palate in the Central West End penthouse of Alison and John Ferring. In their in-home gallery, your party of eight will enjoy a gourmet dinner and a curated selection of French wines from Burgundy, while surrounded by an extraordinary contemporary art collection. This Little Dinner is generously donated by Alison and John Ferring.
Art Auction Lots
LOT 5: Carlos Zamora / Selections from the forthcoming book, The Forest Within, 2022
Two signed prints on stretched canvas and one dedicated book by the author. Prints: 16 x 20 inches each. Book: 8.5 x 11 inches, 40 pages, hardcover.
Carlos Zamora is an award-winning designer. Born and raised in Cuba, Zamora graduated from Havana's Design Institute, and emigrated to St. Louis. He is the author and illustrator of The Forest Within, an exploration on the creative power of grief. This book departs from the colorful boldness of his work, to delight readers with a visual narrative in a classic black and white palette, gray hues, warm whites, and a punch of gold. The story is packed with graphic metaphors that will inspire readers into a journey of discovery and self-reflection. Minimal words and evocative scenes convey a melancholic, quiet tone, inviting us to pause, examine, and imagine inner worlds, places where we might come to terms with loss.
LOT 6: Gary Passanise / Ellipse Gold, 1995-2021
Hand-colored digital print. 22 x 28 inches (paper size), 31 x 36 inches (framed). Artist Proof. Printed on HAHNEMÜHLE paper by publisher, Bullivant Gallery.
Gary Passanise is a St. Louis-based sculptor, painter and printmaker whose primarily abstract work explores a variety of formal and conceptual concerns. The ellipse is a recurring shape in his work, one that appears within multiple compositional structures and forms. This piece, printed in 2021, is based on a series he made and exhibited at Laumeier in the mid-1990s. Passanise, Professor Emeritus at Webster University, is the recipient of many awards including a Pollock Krasner Foundation, and has work in multiple public and private collections, including the Stuttgart Museum of Contemporary Art, Central Academy of Art, Beijing, and the Saint Louis Art Museum.
LOT 7: Jason Middlebrook / Understanding The Form, 2019
2-run, 5-color hard ground etching with drypoint and aquatint printed a la poupée with chine collé. 30 ½ x 24 inches (paper size), 32 x 25 ½ inches (framed). Artist Proof 2 of 10. Printed at Graphicstudio at the University of South Florida, Tampa.
Jason Middlebrook is a mixed-media artist who works in sculpture, installation, works on paper and site-specific projects. He is known for his use of the natural world, illustrating the interaction of nature and humans at the moment they collide. Middlebrook has exhibited his work extensively at institutions such as the New Museum in New York, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, among many others. He has been commissioned for public art projects in such locations as the Tampa International Airport, the New York City subway system, and the US Embassy in Montenegro (currently in progress). He lives and works in Hudson, NY.
Silent Auction: Travel for a Good Cause
New for 2022! This year’s event will also feature a selection of domestic and international travel packages that will be sold through a silent auction.
Bidding on the travel packages will be open to Big Dinner attendees only and will take place during the event on September 17. Get a preview and more information on most of the trips by clicking on the images below. Further details of each package and instructions on how to bid will be shared with Big Dinner attendees at the event.
Vacation Packages Preview
CO-CHAIRS
Zekita Armstrong-Asuquo
Kelley McCarthy* and Ron Saverin
Patricia Olynyk
HONORARY CHAIRS
Jim Kemp and Michael Slawin
Margaret McDonald
Jamie and Jeff* Ryan
Carlos Zamora*
HOST COMMITTEE
Susan Barrett and Chris Poehler Jane Birdsall-Lander and Robert Lander
Claude E. Bond IV*
Beth Chapman and Mark Cooper
Megan and Brian Clinton
Adrienne Davis
JiaMin and Michael Dierberg
Alison and John Ferring
Susan and Bill* Fiala
Melissa and Joel Fuoss
Jan and Ronald Greenberg
Matt Harvey*
Amy Hauft* and Jack Risley
Guinn Hinman
Cynthia and Ven Houts
Ranu and Steve* Hubbard
Kerrin* and David Kowach
Nancy* and Ken* Kranzberg
Harry Lunt
Kelly Malone* and Scott Kramer
Stephanie Copp Martinez*
Meridith McKinley* and Jeffrey Winzerling
Bridget Melloy
Kiki Obata
Ferda and Yildirim Omurtag
Joni Ott and Tom Byrne*
Francesca and Gary Passanise
Patricia and David* Schlafly
William Shearburn Gallery
Travis Sheridan*
Mary Ann* and Andy Srenco
Dawn Suggs
Elizabeth and Tim* Trotter
Susan* and Henry Warshaw
Megan and Stas* Wolak
Sherry and Gary* Wolff
*Laumeier Board Member
List as of August 5, 2022
SPONSORS
Leading Sponsors
Contributing Sponsor
Entertainment Sponsor
VIP Sponsors
In-Kind Sponsors
Sponsors as of September 2, 2022
The Big Dinner 2021 / photos by Jon Gitchoff