Page 90 - January_2016_Life_In_Naples_Magazine

THE FIREFLY CHANDELIER art and symbolic gesture, as it is my intention to add
more light to a community that ennobles itself with
featured artist continuous generosity.”
Michele Oka Donor
for the Naples Winter Wine Festival Her decades of work have garnered extraordinary
praise, including numerous awards and grants. Oka
O ne of the most prolific and respected artists working today will be Doner’s artwork is featured in major museums and
honored as the Featured Artist at the 2016 Naples Winter Wine private collections throughout the United States and
Festival, to be held from January 29-31, 2016 at The Ritz-Carlton Europe, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
Golf Resort in Naples, Florida. Represented by the prestigious Marlborough the Art Institute of Chicago, the Musée des Arts
Gallery in New York, Michele Oka Donor is best known for her public art Décoratifs at the Louvre and the Whitney Museum
commissions, including Radiant Site at New York’s Herald Square subway, of American Art, among many others. Her other
Flight at Washington’s Reagan International Airport and A Walk on the Beach at public art projects can be found in U.S. courthouses,
The Miami International Airport, which features 9,000 bronze and mother-of- public libraries, hospitals, museums, universities, as well
pearl sculptures lining a 1.25 mile concourse, one of the largest public artworks as in public parks and transportation centers. She is
in the world. currently designing the costumes and sets for George
Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the
“To have an artist of Michele Oka Doner’s caliber attend the Naples Winter Miami City Ballet, which will debut concurrently with
Wine Festival and donate a custom piece of art to our live auction is a dream her solo exhibition at the Perez Museum of Art Miami
come true,” said Sandi Moran, co-chair of the 2016 Naples Winter Wine in March 2016. She was awarded a 2011 Honorary
Festival. “Her art is inspired by the natural surroundings of her hometown of Doctorate Degree in Fine Arts from The New School
Miami Beach, not far from our Festival’s grounds, and it’s a great honor to of Interior Design, in New York City.
welcome her back to Florida. Her talents and generous contribution will make a
tremendous difference in the lives of so many children in this community.” In addition to bidding on Oka Doner’s spectacular
chandelier, guests to the Naples Winter Wine Festival
Guests to the Naples Winter Wine Festival will have the unique opportunity will also have the opportunity to bid on one-of-a-kind
to hang a piece of her artwork in their own home by bidding on a custom travel experiences, limited edition cars, and unique
chandelier designed and created by the artist specifically for the Festival. wine lots during an electrifying live auction, all of
Evocative of The Firefly Chandelier and cast in bronze, the chandelier will be which are dedicated to an important cause. Since its
inspired by a walk one dusk evening on a wooden ramp into the Everglades, near inception, the Festival has raised more than $135
Naples. million dollars to support its founding organization,
the Naples Children & Education Foundation, whose
“As an artist and a citizen of South Florida, born and raised, I am honored to annual grants have provided more than 200,000
participate in the Naples Winter Wine Festival, an organization that recognizes children with the services and resources they need to
the challenges facing many children in Collier County,” said Michele Oka excel.
Doner. “The chandelier I’ll create for the winning bidder will be both work of
Ticket packages to this year’s Naples Winter Wine
Festival, limited to 580 guests, start at $10,000 per
couple. A $25,000 package that includes reserved
seating for a party of four under the tent at a vintner
dinner is also available. For more information
about the NWWF, please visit http://www.
napleswinefestival.com or call 888.837.4919.

90 Life in Naples | January 2016