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The sun always shines on MPA
It may have rained for days before, but the sun came out for the McLean Project for the Arts annual spring benefit May 13. A McLean tradition of more than 20 years, this year’s MPA spring benefit, co-chaired by Piper Gioia and Michelle DuPont Olson, raised about $100,000.
The change in weather was only one of the evening’s delights. An elegant, enthusiastic crowd of 425 art devotees and MPA supporters happily gathered in the gardens of Prospect Hill, the beautiful historic home of Howard and Lee Forman. Built in 1854, the home is thought to have been part of the Underground Railroad, and Union soldiers encamped on the property during the winter of 1861-1862.
Guests, who were shuttle-bused to the party from the nearby Madeira School, strolled the home’s expansive grounds, socializing and dining at tables placed strategically around the lawn and under a large white tent. The Formans also opened their home to guests, inviting them to enjoy their large, eclectic fine arts and crafts collection, including Lee Foreman’s collection of shopping bags housed in the property’s Carriage House.
World-renowned Washington, D.C., artist Sam Gilliam, an original and innovative color field painter, was the guest of honor. West*Group was the benefit’s prime sponsor.
The funds raised support MPA exhibitions, art classes, and workshops for adults and children, its ArtReach program in local schools, summer art camp, tours to galleries and museums, and the annual Youth Art Show. Funding also supports a new arts program for special education middle and high school students from the McLean area who do not receive art as part of their curriculum, and a new art class for preschool children that already has a waiting list.
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