by Jessica Carreras
For the first time ever, the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS is teaming up with the Michigan AIDS Coalition to bring Dining By Design to Detroit. The three-day fundraising event, expected to net close to $100,000 for the statewide HIV/AIDS organization, is set to happen over Aug. 12-14.
A by-invitation-only kickoff party will take place March 25 at Leon & Lulu's in Clawson. According to MAC Executive Director Helen Hicks, 250 invitations have been sent out and responses are pouring in, mostly from high-profile community members looking to sponsor tables or get involved in other ways.
"We're thrilled beyond belief," Hicks commented. "I'm noticing that everyone wants to get involved."
And with Dining By Design, they'll all have a chance to do so.
Dining By Design, now in its 10th year, is usually held in six locations throughout the U.S. This year, that includes Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, Columbus, Atlanta and Kansas City. And now, Michigan.
The event allows companies, organizations or individuals to 'sponsor' tables, which they are then charged to decorate as elaborately as they please. Past designs have included a nature theme complete with sod-filled bowls, an entire "party" house created by paint company Benjamin Moore and examples of pure elegance featuring crystal chandeliers, bouquets of roses and more.
"Corporate sponsors – mostly from the design community – they adopt tables and they create these absolutely fantastic spaces," Hicks explained further. "They don't look like tables, really, by the time they're done. Some of them look like works of art. And all of these tables are set in a venue."
That venue, in MAC's case, hasn't been chosen yet, but they're looking at several hip locales within the city.
The three-day event will begin on Aug. 12 with a cocktail party, which will have MAC's annual Artworks For Life event rolled into it. Work by local and national artists will be up for auction, while members of the community will be allowed – for $100 a ticket – to view the tables, enjoy catering by Matt Prentice and sip on drinks. "We're expecting about 750 people to come to that event to view the tables, bid on art, have unlimited booze," Hicks joked. "There will also be significant entertainment that evening."
The festivities will continue Aug. 13 when the general public will be able to view the artful tables. "The Center for Creative Studies has expressed an interest, Lawrence Technological University – all of the design-related schools would have something to do there on that day," Hicks shared.
The final day, however, is the event to be at. On Aug. 14, sponsors and their guests, as well as anyone else willing to purchase a $250 ticket to this one-of-a-kind event, will be treated to a five-course gourmet meal at the tables – reset with proper linens and tableware, of course.
But although Dining By Design is high-class all the way, Hicks ensures that people will be able to get involved in a variety of ways beyond sponsoring a several-thousand-dollar table.
"The designers themselves may not have $5,000 themselves, but they know how to design a table. They could be partnered with a corporate partner who wants to come in and do this," she explained. "We're also willing to give a table to someone who, for example, says they want to shoot the entire event. In other words, we're willing to negotiate that process.
"There's a lot of give-and-take bartering that can go on to make this event very fantastic."
The main goal is to bring the event to Detroiters to lift spirits and raise money for HIV/AIDS services – especially in such downtrodden times.
"In such a poor economic time, (DIFFA was) a little reluctant to start approaching us and other cities where they'd like to see this happen," Hicks said. "But we felt that we could pull it off … because of the nature of Detroit. We are design – the automotive companies, we've got tattoos, we've got every form of design here. I think that's what makes this event so interesting here in Detroit is that we can bring all of those different facets to the table to make what will hopefully be the party of the year."
For more information on this and other events, visit http://www.diffa.org.
