"We're dimming our lights, but certainly not our enthusiasm," says Charmayne Mills, co-chair for "An Artful Evening at CAAM," the California African American Museum's (CAAM) annual fundraising event scheduled for the evening of Saturday, October 20, on the same evening as the "Lights Out, Los Angeles" campaign to promote energy conservation. Mills, who is also president of Friends, the Foundation of California African American Museum, which supports the specialty museum, notes that the event has been schedule for months and is vital in raising needed funds to augment the State facility's budget for exhibitions and programs.

"‘An Artful Evening at CAAM' allows us to spotlight luminaries whom we honor for their outstanding contributions to the community," says Charmaine Jefferson, CAAM executive director, adding, that while the evening will be lit by the goodwill and sparkle of the guests, the program is being adjusted so that the three honorees will get the full glow of attention they deserve even during the conservation hour of 8:00 to 9:00 pm.

 

The leading lights being honored this year include Keith L. Black, MD, chairman of the Department of Neurosurgery and director of the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, The Annenberg Foundation and Artis Lane. Sculptor and portrait painter Artis Lane will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award for her work spanning more than 60 years.  The highly acclaimed artist, who turned 80 in May, explains that she began sculpting with the clay on her grandmother's farm because there were no toys. Some 70 years later, she is still at it, but frequently works on much larger than doll-size figures, some of which are larger than the petite painter/sculptor's own five-foot frame.  One of CAAM's current exhibitions "A Woman's Journey: The Life and Work of Artis Lane," is the first ever retrospective of her work. According to the curators, the work is presented using three themes: Material-paintings, drawings and sculptures of the body in various poses, depicting the movement and fluidity of living in the physical world. The Transcendent-captures the evolution from the material to the spirit through her inclusion of casting and firing elements in the final production of her sculptures...Her Life- depicts Lane's journey from a black, rural town in Canada to Hollywood...

Internationally known as a neurosurgeon and scientist, Dr. Black joined Cedars-Sinai in July 1997 after serving as professor of neurosurgery on the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles, where he was the Ruth and Raymond Stotter Chair in the Department of Surgery and head of the UCLA Comprehensive Brain Tumor Program. In 2000, his pioneering research led to his receiving the Jacob Javits Award from the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council of the National Institutes of Health. In 1997, he was featured on the cover of a Time magazine special edition on "Heroes in Medicine." Dr. Black will receive CAAM's Thomas Bradley

Unsung Hero Award for his remarkable medical, surgical and scientific efforts.

 

Accepting The Annenberg Foundation's Partnership Award for its outstanding support of many nonprofit educational and cultural organizations, including CAAM, will be Wallis Annenberg, vice president and trustee of the Annenberg Foundation. Under Wallis' leadership, the Los Angeles office of the Foundation, which is only five years old, has given more than a quarter million dollars to more than 500 organizations.

 

Co-chairing CAAM's third annual fundraising event with Mills is Sylvia Hart, co-secretary of the Friends Foundation. "Whether our lighting is bright or understated, we expect to again sell out this event, which is held in the CAAM Sculpture Court." The event and its popular auctions successfully raise funds to support CAAM educational programs, exhibitions, workshops and acquisition of art and artifacts that support the museum's purpose-to research, collect, preserve and interpret for public enrichment the history, art and culture of African Americans.

Roosevelt and Paula Madison are co-chairs of an honorary committee that includes Phoebe Beasley, John Outterbridge, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Betye Saar, and V. Joy Simmons, MD, among others.

Co-presenting sponsors for the event are The Africa Channel and Broadway Federal Bank. Support is also provided by The J. Paul Getty Trust, Bank of America, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Crown Royal, Downtown LA Motors Mercedes-Benz, KNBC, Walt Disney Company, Sempra Energy, Sony Pictures, Southern California Edison, Target, the University of Southern California, US Bank and Wells Fargo.

For further information, visit www.caamuseum.org  or call 213-744-7432.