RICHMOND, Ind. — Tickets are on sale for the Richmond Art Museum’s Palette to Palate fundraising event to be Feb. 15 at the First Bank Kuhlman Center.
The annual event began in 2018 after the museum and Reid Health ended a 25-year partnership for a previous event called “Art to Heart,” Richmond Art Museum Executive Director Shaun Dingwerth said. Proceeds benefit the museum and IU East’s Department of Fine and Performing Arts.
“We thought that was a good milestone to stop, and IU East reached out to us with this idea of partnering, and it just seemed like a natural fit with arts education being central to our missions as far as the humanities department and the Richmond Art Museum,” he said.
This year’s theme is Japan and revolves around Sakura, which translates to “cherry blossom” in English.
“We will be having Japanese food, and then we have selected artists whose art either represents Japanese techniques or are Japanese artists,” Dingwerth said. “What we do is we invite artists to come and sell their work, and a percentage of those sales go to the organizations to help benefit the overall fundraiser.”
Dingwerth said that unlike other fundraisers where artists are asked to donate artwork, Palette to Palate offers artists a stipend, and the museum provides temporary walls to hang and sell their work.
“It’s a great opportunity to expose and get local people interested in different types of art,” he said. “Throughout the years, it’s been important to us to represent different types of art, and that’s kind of where the theme comes in.”
On its website, tastemeetstalent.com, featured artists for this year’s event are Nhat Tran, Kathy Girten and Annette Warfel, Melinda Rosenberg and Sumiko and Kaname Takada. Food will be provided by Sakura Japanese Restaurant from Indianapolis, with bar service from Olde Richmond Inn.
How much are tickets, and what else should I know?
Tickets are $100 and can be purchased at richmondartmuseum.org/product/p2p-sakura-tickets/. The event is limited to 350 people and is open to ages 18 and older.
Palette to Palate begins with cocktails at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 8 p.m. It is scheduled to end at 10:30 p.m.
Cocktails are included with the purchase of the ticket, Dingwerth said, with top mixologists from Indianapolis providing them. An open bar and non-alcoholic beverages will be available as well.
Dresswear is street casual. Dingwerth said that decision is meant to keep the event different from its other signature events.
“It allows, in my opinion, for more socialization,” he said. “You’re not tied to your table. We do a very short presentation about how the funds are used and then we do a monetary ask, like most of the signature events.”
Dingwerth added that although the event doesn’t have a band, attendees should still expect a few entertainment surprises.
“Last year, it was England, and we actually had someone who looked like the queen mother, and she came out right before we asked for money,” he said. “It was just amazing. People were filming it and it was just a lot of fun. We always have some elements of surprise built into the event.”
Dingwerth said organizers have been working with the Japan-America Society of Indiana to ensure the culture is represented appropriately and authentically. He also thanked Earlham College’s Institute for Education on Japan for help.
“That was one of the committee’s reasons for selecting Japan,” he said. “Because we do have Japanese-owned businesses in Richmond and we do have a small Japanese community within the area, so that’s important that we be diverse in how we look at our signature events.”
Evan Weaver is a news and sports reporter at The Palladium-Item. Contact him on X (@evan_weaver7) or email at eweaver@gannett.com.
