At the Whyte Museum last week, guests dressed in vintage safari-wear pulled tiny keys out of a tiny treasure chest before striding down a red carpet into the main gallery. The keys were tied with various colours of ribbon, indicating your “team” for the night.
Robert Bateman, famed Canadian artist and environmentalist, stood on a small stage and spoke quietly about his work. A retrospective hung on the walls around him, work from the different decades of his life. The room was crowded. Finally, raising his sketchbook in one hand, he gestured at the crowd and ordered,
“Now go, get drunk, and spend a lot of money at the silent auction.”
Laughter. Before the audience could swarm or disperse, two figures took the stage - this time, dressed in elaborate Jumanji-style dress with head-set microphones. They directed the audience on an elaborate treasure hunt around the museum, where clues were hidden at various bars and food stations. Catering was provided by the Bison Resturant, which offered dripping, indulgent fondue bits, pan-cooked shrimp, crudités, and other assorted goodies.
Among the adventurers were Alberta Minister of Sustainable Resource Development, Ted Morton with his wife Bambi Morton, MLA Dave Rodney, curator at the National Museum of Wildlife Art, Adam Duncan Harris, Under The Sleeping Buffalo (UTSB) researcher Peter Poole, executive director of Heritage Community Foundation Adriana Davies, sommelier Roisin Hutchinson of Bin 905, senior vice-president of BMO Financial Group Ted McCarron and his wife, Jane McCarron, and Olympic gold medalist Mark Tewksbury with his partner, Rob Mabee of Axis Gallery in Calgary.
Proceeds from the evening will go to the Whyte Museum; Bateman is trumpeting another good cause - the “Get to Know” program, which connects children and the wilderness.
The evening closed with a very special connection to nature: two live owls and a giant hawk, brought in to the museum by animal trainers. The remaining guests crowded around the birds in awe, touching their feathers and watching the odd turning of the owl’s head.
Published in National Post, May 16 2009
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