Mark Krueger, artist and owner of X.po.zur Gallery was our host. His gallery looks over the Saugatuck River and we took advantage of the setting. With tables set outside by the water, we enjoyed some food and prosecco while greeting and mingling. Rain did not hamper our evening. It waited until we were ready to go inside.
The evening benefited the Joyful Heart Foundation and we were honored to have Lisa Winjum from the Foundation join us. The Joyful Heart Foundation, created by actress Mariska Hargitay, focuses on victims of rape, domestic abuse and child abuse. Her fictional character on Law and Order inspired her to start the foundation: “In my research for my role, I encountered statistics that shocked me. One in three women report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives. Every two minutes in the United States, someone is sexually assaulted. More than five children die every day in this country as a result of child abuse and neglect, and up to 15 million children witness domestic violence in their homes each year.”
We began our evening with a blind wine tasting. Three varieties of white and three red. Seems that Lisa really knows her wines…And the winner was Lisa Winjum! A winery in California could be on the horizon.
Mark Krueger shared his vision for opening X.po.zur Gallery with us. It wasn’t opened specifically to sell art. Mark’s desire and goal is to expose people to art. Those were his reasons behind choosing the location and opening the gallery. A perfect venue for young artists to gather and have conversation.
Our guest speaker for the night was Mary Wallace Jaensch, CEO of Last Big Gig. Mary engaged us in an active conversation about passion: “Remember that passion is an experience – not a thing – and it is available to you every time you are prompted to learn more about what interests you, to connect with new people involved with what interests you and to feel fulfilled, satisfied and happy when doing what interests you. Most importantly, there is never any age limit!”
As always, new connections and friends were made and new members to the community were welcomed.
Our calendar for the rest of the year is pretty full:
Next up
October 19th – Transitions & Transformations @ L&T Stamford
November 19th – Author Wendy Walker of Emma in the Night and All is not Forgotten (being made into a movie) @ location to be announced
December 5th – A lively discussion on sex @Isabella Garrucho Fine Art
Photo Gallery
