Around Town: ARTinis benefit soirée is a ghoulish good time

It was a night of flying bats, dancing zombies, creepy cocktail concoctions and scary-good food as the AOE Arts Council threw the best Halloween party in town Thursday with its annual ARTinis benefit soirée.

More than 300 partygoers poured into the elaborately decorated lower lobby of the Shenkman Arts Centre in the mood to celebrate the ominous occasion. On display were local artists carving creative and unique pumpkins, painting eerie live art and adding gory or glittery makeup effects to the faces of costumed guests.

The Richcraft Theatre at the Shenkman Arts Centre was transformed into a cemetery, with live music from the Miguel De Armas Latin Jazz Quartet, at the Halloween-themed ARTinis, an annual benefit soirée for the AOE Arts Council, held at the Shenkman Arts Centre on Thursday, October 29, 2015.

The Richcraft Theatre was transformed into a musical crypt as the Miguel de Armas Latin Jazz Quartet performed in a graveyard of spooky fog and handmade papier-mâché tombstones and archways (requiring more than 30 pounds of flour for the paste). At the witching hour, a zombie flash mob surprised the crowd with a dance number to Thriller.

Andrew Leslie, newly elected Liberal MP for Orléans, was there with his wife, Karen. Mayor Jim Watson came as himself, or, as he put it, the “Night-Mayor” (a pun on “nightmare”). City Coun. Tim Tierney was curiously dressed as a Disco-era pilot, joined by his stewardess-costumed wife, Jenny.

From left, entrepreneurial networker Jarrod Goldsmith with Orléans Liberal MP-elect Andrew Leslie and veterinarian Dr. Ariane Finsten (dressed in honour of her dog Zora) at the Halloween-themed ARTinis benefit soirée for the AOE Arts Council, held at the Shenkman Arts Centre on Thursday, October 29, 2015.

The $75-a-ticket evening included a silent auction, mystery balloon prizes and a raffle for a pair of tickets from Porter Airlines. Organizers were hoping to raise $40,000 for the AOE Arts Council, a non-profit organization that works with the community to develop partnerships, audiences and visibility for the arts. “Really what the Arts Council is here for is to help build a stronger sector and to help our local artists survive, succeed, thrive and share their work with the community,” said executive director Victoria Steele.

Fans of the Arts Council include visual artist Mark Stephenson. “They seem to have their act together in terms of being involved in the arts community and helping artists out,” said Stephenson, who, by the way, dressed as hockey-masked serial killer Jason, from the Friday the 13th slasher flicks, for his live painting performance of a human skull on canvas.

Retired broadcaster Denis St-Jules, board vice president of the AOE Arts Council, with its executive director, Victoria Steele, at the Halloween-themed ARTinis, an annual benefit soirée for the AOE Arts Council, held at the Shenkman Arts Centre on Thursday, October 29, 2015.

Carolyn001@sympatico.ca