JJ's Cocktail Party to Introduce Tina Brown

Steve Goldfarb, Cathi, Eric Akines

Tonight I went to a small cocktail party as a guest of JJ McKay at the Bagley and Virginia Wright Foundation Gallery to meet special guests Tina Brown, Editor-in-Chief of Newsweek and the Daily Beast, Stephen Colvin, CEO of Newsweek, and Jeff Barrish, Associate Publisher at Newsweek and Daily Beast Vice President.

JJ McKay, Stephen Colvin, Tina Brown

JJ gathered an interesting cross section of the community to meet Tina and Jeff including hosts Virginia & Bagley Wright and guests, Charles & Lisa Simonyi, Kate Janeway & Howard Wright, Delphine & Charles Stevens, Pat Wallace, Laura Peterson, Stewart Parker, Jean Enersen & Bruce Carter, Fredda & Steve Goldfarb, Eric Akines, Elizabeth & Jonathan Roberts, Nancy Auer & Randy Houtz, Glen Johnson, Kathy Casey and Dale & Leslie Chihuly.

In her remarks to the group, Tina talked about her recent couple of weeks covering the royal wedding of William and Kate and then coming home exhausted to immediate news of the death of Osama bin Laden and the need to put together a special edition of Newsweek in one and a half days.  It sounded like she was definitely up to the challenge.

Stewart Parker, Laura Peterson

The Wright Gallery is a wonderful venue to showcase some of the over 200 art pieces that Ginny & Bagley have acquired over the years.  This particular show was focused on Color Field paintings, which at one point had been dismissed as "merely decorative" works.  Virginia shares in the catalog available at the show, "I have been pleased that the Color Field show of 2004 did help to retrieve the reputation of the artists on view.  It was so popular that we decided to repeat it.  This show is almost identical to the earlier one, but with a few changes we hope will intrigue viewers.  Our hope is that Color Field painting will come to be seen not as a dead end but as a stunning chapter in the development of abstract art, capable of inspiring other artists and above all, providing pleasure of the very highest order."

Cathi, JJ McKay, Fredda Goldfarb

I admired the paintings which were colorful and happy and enjoyed meeting special guest Tina Brown and visiting with the many other guests.  Thank you, JJ, for hosting another great party!