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Arts
January 17 - February 6, 2015
53
Channel your inner Rembrandt at art fundraiser BY MEGHAN MCCOY
Art lovers can paint, drink wine and indulge in chocolate on the Chandler Center for the Arts’ main stage on Saturday, Jan. 31, during the “Wine, Chocolate and Social Painting” fundraiser led by instructor Emily Costello. “This is a great way for people to come out and have a fun evening and do something great for the arts and the youth of our community at the same time,” says Debbie Rubenstrunk, Chandler Center for the Arts development consultant. “The fact that they get a painting, a fun evening, wine and chocolate and can help kids...that is a win all over the place.” The event, which begins at 7 p.m., is part of 3 Evenings for the Arts; proceeds benefit the Jerry Brooks Legacy Fund, which supports the education outreach activities of the Chandler Cultural Foundation. Connecting Kidz Program is one of them. “This will help us be able to produce more activities and help bring in more kids to be able to participate in the program,” says Jeanne Forbis, special events chairwoman and a Chandler Cultural Foundation board member. The two other events were a private tour of “The Little Black Dress: Through the Decades” exhibit with Robert Black at the Vision Gallery, and a murder mystery and dinner at the Chandler Center for the Arts. Forbis says “Wine, Chocolate and Social Painting” is a “fun twist” on typical art events. Rubenstrunk says patrons will paint a duplicate of one of Costello’s artworks
GOOD CAUSE: “Wine, Chocolate and Social Painting” fundraiser is led by instructor Emily Costello, not pictured. Submitted photo
and bring it home. “Emily is an amazing artist and she is really fun,” Rubenstrunk explains. Tickets, which include a 16-inch by 20inch canvas and supplies, complimentary samplings, and professional instruction, are $75. The chocolate samplings are courtesy of Ginny Price, independent chocolatier of Dove Chocolate Discoveries. “We will have some little mystery cupcakes that will have goodies inside to
buy for a donation,” Rubenstrunk adds. “It should be a really enjoyable couple of hours.” The event will also feature silent auction with chocolate-themed items to raise funds for the Connecting Kidz Program. “We don’t want our audience to be bored with it, so they keep coming back,” she says of the three events. “They are very different.”
For more information, or to purchase tickets, visit www.chandlercenter.org or call (480) 782-2680. The Chandler Center for the Arts is located at 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler. Meghan McCoy is the Neighbors and Business section editor for the SanTan Sun News. She can be reached at meghan@ santansun.com.