About Last Night: The Ignite Gala

Last night BAM wrapped up a very full season with the Ignite Gala: Benefiting BAM Education. The fun-filled evening began with cocktails in the Dorothy Levitt lobby, followed by a gorgeous dinner on the stage of the Howard Gilman Opera House and a playful dessert reception with a DIY margarita bar.

The evening was a great way to jump in to summer. Read on for more about the event and what's coming up for BAM Education!

And check-out the full photo album.

Bob Greenberg, the founder and CEO of the revolutionary digital advertising agency R/GA, has also been a long-time BAM board member, so we were thrilled to honor him at this gala with the Ignite Award. Old school friends Alan Fishman, BAM Chairman of the Board, and Michael Roth, CEO of Interpublic Group (parent company of R/GA) co-chaired the gala and thanked Bob for his incredible accomplishments.

The cocktail reception featured an art mural which invited guests to share what "ignited" their imaginations. Artists Delphine Lacroix and Maud Aptekar originally designed the mural for a BAM Education program celebrating the 70th anniversary of The Little Prince. The illuminated chalkboard was re-designed for last night's event; Ignite Campaign Co-Chair Lucy Liu certainly had fun with it!

BAM Education participants Mariama Diallo and Abraham Andujar had a lively dialogue with John Hockenberry, host of the popular radio show The Takeaway. Mariama has been a high school intern for both BAM Education and DanceMotion USA; check out her blog post on a DC trip she took with DanceMotion. For two years running, Abraham has participated in Dancing into the Future, one of BAM's many After-School Programs, and will be attending Monroe College in the fall.

Dinner on the Opera House stage concluded with a moving performance by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus which returns to BAM this fall with Black Mountain Songs, part of the 2014 Next Wave Festival. Along with the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music Student Jazz Quartet, which played for guests as they entered the Opera House, BYC provided a potent reminder of the amazing talent in young Brooklyn artists.

Guests left dinner with gifts which included small plants courtesy of the brilliant decor artists at Fleurs Bella and Gala Gift Bags featuring goodies from American Paper Optics, Brooklyn Roasting Company, McClure's Pickles, Perseus Books Group, SerendipiTea, ToyQube, and Vosges Haut-Chocolat.

The evening ended with a summery and playful dessert reception which featured a make-your-own margarita bar and playful takes on classic desserts like pie-pops and mini s'mores cones. The summer fun doesn't end for BAM Education—Youth Summer Programs kick-off next Monday!

All photos by Beowulf Sheehan