Contemporary Calgary prepares for largest fundraiser of the year

David Leinster from Contemporary Calgary joins Ian White to discuss the Look 25 Noir Nouveau Gala on Saturday, May 31.

The biggest fundraiser of the year for Contemporary Calgary will be held Saturday, May 31 – the Look25 Gala: Noir Nouveau.

The gala is geared toward supporters of the arts across the economic spectrum.

“It’s three events in one,” said Contemporary Calgary CEO David Leinster. “There’s a VIP dinner, which Holt Renfrew kindly supports, and then you move into a reception halfway through dinner, that a whole other group of guests come as a different price point – still tickets available – and then at 10 p.m. there’s an after party for forty bucks.”

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The gala’s auction will include a broad range of art too.

“The art in the auction goes from $225 all the way to the Riopelle, which is $225,000,” said Leinster, referring to a piece by late Quebec abstract artist Jean-Paul Riopelle.

Contemporary Calgary – housed in the city’s former Centennial Planetarium– will soon undergo a massive expansion.

“It will actually look more like the Planetarium looked in 1967,” said Leinster.

“We have a project that is one part archaeology, one part new construction, maybe one part plastic surgery.”