Berets and ball gowns helped transform the Corcoran into a Parisian wonderland at the annual Fall Fete.
By Laura Wainman
Photos by Kate Warren of GoKateShoot
Corcoran students from the Wear.Strut.Occupy course.
The government may be shutdown, but it hasn’t stopped Washingtonians from putting on their finest and dancing their furloughed cares away. This year’s Corcoran Fall Fete transported guests to the streets of Paris, as they celebrated the reinstallation of the historic American art galleries: American Journeys-Vision of Place. The collection explores the lure of Paris for American artists and the changing notion of place in the history of American art.
The French theme was reflected not only in the decor, from the wildly popular for photo opps Moulin Rogue and Eiffel Tower backdrops, but in the food, drink and the attire of the guests. In true Washington form, the dance floor remained barren for the first two hours or so, until the wise deejay Provoke blasted V.I.C.’s hit song “Wobble,” which brought the more than 800 guests to their feet. Many didn’t leave the dance floor for a moment, except for beverage refills, until the lights came back up.
1869 Steering Committee (L to R): Huong Tran, Jenny Chung, Carl Bedell, Jennifer Key, Katie Funk, Phil Mone, Lindsey Vaala, Lindley Thornburg, Andrew Stein and RaShonda Rosier
The revelers were far from ready for the evening to end as the dimmed lights flickered on around 1 a.m. So the tuxedo-clad gentlemen grabbed their ladies and made a beeline for their Uber chariots waiting to carry them to after party at Kabin, the new(ish) alpine-themed in Dupont, where black-tie attired guests crowded onto the dance floor with the regular club-goers and danced into the wee hours of the morning.
The evening benefited ArtReach, the Corcoran’s educational outreach program empowering more than 200 under-privileged youths age 6 to 18 yearly by creating a safe, supportive environment in which they can be
celebrated for their artistic talents.
Pragati Singh, Carl Bedell, LaRhonda Burley, Aaron Bullard and Alexandra Kwit
Courtney Smoot, Clare Hector, Lauren Flowers and Jackie Gray
The dancing man, Nayef Issa
Katherine Cherry, Haleigh Ciel, JR Heacock and Heather Daraz
