Pitt-Bradford Arts Endowment Gala to Feature 'An Evening on Stage'

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford will host a dinner on stage in the Bromeley Family Theater for its Arts Endowment Gala in September.

“An Evening on Stage – and You’re the Star” will take place at 6 p.m. Sept. 17 in Blaisdell Hall and includes cocktails, dinner, a live auction, dessert and live entertainment throughout the evening. Valet parking will be available.

Tickets are $80 and can be purchased by Sept. 6 by calling Patty Colosimo, assistant director of arts programming at (814)362-5155. No tickets will be sold at the door.

Terri Leven, chairwoman of the gala, said that each year the committee works to create an “inspiring” experience for those attending the event.

“This year’s event will spotlight a theatrical evening,” she said. “We’re taking our guests into a deeper part of the theater – on stage and behind the scenes -- than they usually get to experience.”

Performers during the evening will be the Southern Tier Symphony String Quartet during the cocktail hour; acoustic jazz guitar by Jim Ronan of Dragonfly Guitar Studio during dinner; and Lynne Shannon Kuntz will sing to the accompaniment of John Kytic during dessert following the auction.

The evening will also feature the artwork of Bradford architect Preston Abbey, who designed some of the first buildings at Pitt-Bradford. In addition to original architectural drawings for the campus, the exhibit in the KOA Art Gallery will include a collection of paintings Abbey did outside of his work as an architect.

This is the third year the arts endowment event has offered a live auction. Highlights of this year’s auction include two Persian rugs (one 4 feet 6 inches by 6 feet 6 inches and the other a runner measuring 3 feet 6 inches by 12 feet 6 inches) hand knotted in the Iranian city of Saruq, which is famous for such carpets, and an ultimate weekend getaway to Manhattan.

The getaway package includes a hotel stay near Times Square, entrance tickets plus dinner in the board of trustees dining room at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a gift certificate for dinner at theater district icon Sardi’s restaurant, and spending money.

A Bradford theater package will feature not only tickets from the Bradford Creative and Performing Arts Center, Bradford Little Theater and Pitt-Bradford Arts, but also the chance to name a seat in the Bromeley Family Theater in someone’s honor. In addition, the theater package includes a copy of “The Routledge Companion to Actors’ Shakespeare” signed and edited by Dr. Kevin Ewert, director of the theater program at Pitt-Bradford.

Numerous pieces of art will also be available at the auction, including a signed, limited-edition print by outdoor artist Terry Redlin and Mearitza L. Morgan, and two sculptures by the late Colorado artist Walt Horton.

Other items available at the auction include a Japanese Satsuma vase from the early 20th century and gift certificates to fine restaurants in the region.

In all, 19 items are available.

Thanks to corporate sponsors, all of the proceeds from the evening will go to the Arts Endowment Fund, which supports the university’s Prism, Spectrum and Kaleidoscope series.

Corporate-level sponsors include American Refining Group Inc.; Bradford Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Group; Kessel Construction; Manning and Napier Foundation; Metz Culinary Management; PNC Investments; Zippo Manufacturing Co.; Ameriprise Financial; the Philo and Sarah Blaisdell Foundation; MacLachlan, Cornelius and Filoni Inc. architects; and Dr. and Mrs. Luis Gonzalez and Dr. and Mrs. Abaz Sosic. In addition, Ann and Dick Kessel sponsored a table at the corporate level, and Jeanie and John Satterwhite sponsored a table at the corporate level in honor of the Bradford YWCA.