May 8, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information, please contact:

Sommer Toffle, SAMA-Ligonier Valley Coordinator

(724) 238-6015

Travis Mearns, Public Relations Coordinator

(724) 238-6015

SAMA-LIGONIER VALLEY CELEBRATES 8TH ANNUAL GARDEN PARTY

            Ligonier – The Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Ligonier Valley will celebrate its eighth annual Garden Party this June. Scheduled for Saturday, June 6, SAMA’s Garden Party, “A Spring Celebration,” is a community event designed to benefit the Museum and its beautiful flower gardens. Since the Museum opened its doors in 1997, the facility, its gardens and its exhibition and education programming have become symbols of the Museum’s presence in the Ligonier Valley region. Serving as Garden Party Co-Chairs are Hart Heyward of Jones Mills and Susan Endersbe of Latrobe, with Mary Jo Culbertson of Ligonier serving as Silent Auction Chair.

            The Garden Party begins at 4 p.m. with a champagne reception in the Museum gallery celebrating the exhibition, A Changing Landscape: From the City to the Countryside. The exhibition, which will be on view through August 1, features approximately 100 urban and rural landscapes and industrial scenes created by artists Ron Donoughe and Kevin Kutz. Both exhibiting artists will be in attendance to meet with guests during the reception and throughout the Garden Party.

            Following the reception, guests will proceed outside under a tent on the Museum grounds. There they will be treated to cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and a gourmet dinner catered by Vallozzi’s Restaurant in Greensburg. A silent auction featuring a wide variety of antiques, collectibles and garden accessories will provide splendid shopping opportunities.

            This year’s silent auction also will feature approximately 20 pieces of artwork, spanning painting, sculpture and ceramics, from local and regional artists, as well as handmade jewelry created by Lisa McChesney and Cheryl Robertson. Additionally, exhibiting artists Donoughe and Kutz have donated works to be auctioned during the Garden Party. Last year’s popular Steelers wine raffle will return for this year’s event. Through the raffle, guests purchase a bottle of wine, with a gift certificate affixed to each, while one lucky winner will get two Pittsburgh Steelers tickets.

            “This year’s Garden Party will be a night to remember,” said Sommer Toffle, SAMA-Ligonier Valley Coordinator. “Guests will be able to meet with artists Ron Donoughe and Kevin Kutz while enjoying A Changing Landscape, an outstanding exhibition chronicling modern-day Western Pennsylvania. There is delectable gourmet cuisine provided by Ernie Vallozzi, set to the backdrop of the Museum’s picturesque gardens, plus a variety of wonderful antiques, collectibles and artwork available for bidding in the Silent Auction. Our Co-Chairs, Hart Heyward and Susan Endersbe, and Silent Auction Chair, Mary Jo Culbertson, have done an outstanding job of creating a wonderful event to benefit and support our Museum.”

            The Garden Party is open to the public, but reservations must be made by May 26. Cost is $125 per person. For reservations or more information, please call the Museum at (724) 238-6015 or visit www.sama-art.org.

            Since its opening in 1976, the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art has been devoted to its mission of collecting and exhibiting 19^th and 20^th century American art to the rural communities of Southwestern and Central Pennsylvania. Since that time, the Museum’s permanent collection has grown to number more than 3,500 works of art. With four sites located in Altoona, Johnstown, Loretto and Ligonier, SAMA is able to reach tens of thousands every year with world-class exhibitions and award-winning education programs. Each of SAMA’s four museums is open to the public free of charge.