Thank you to all of the guests, sponsors, donors, volunteers, performers, artists and the organizing committee for making the 2008 Mosaic gala a success. The gala was held on the evening of November 1 at the UD Trabant University Center.

This was the third year that several non-profit cultural groups in Newark, Delaware joined together to create a gala fundraiser, featuring performances, gourmet food, and live and silent auctions of art and merchant baskets. Participating groups this year were the Newark Symphony Orchestra, the Delaware Dance Company, the Newark Arts Alliance, the Mid-Atlantic Ballet and the Chapel Street Players. You can learn more about each of our organizations by clicking on "about mosaic" at left. By clicking on "gala 2006" or "gala 2007" you can see photos from our previous events, the Four Seasons Gala in 2006 and the Mad Hatter Gala in 2007, and below are pictures from our 2008 Masquerade Gala. Each of these lovely evenings has raised money for our community arts groups while also introducing our theater, music, dance and visual arts to new audience members.

Event photos by Erin Miller, Sarah Vorce and Meredith Freeborn Midatlantic Ballet performs Eclipse, choreographed by Artistic Director Patrick Korstange. Ruth Brown and Tanya Lazar of the Chapel Street Players present a reading of Fin & Euba by Audrey Cefaly. Silent auction tables featured paintings, jewelry and other items by local artists as well as baskets of tickets, gift certificates and goods donated by local merchants. A table of live auction items. The guests enjoyed the humorous banter of celebrity auctioneer Chris Coons, the New Castle County Executive.

Delaware Dance Company performs When the Saints Go Marching In, choreographed by Jody Anderson-Miller. Music Director Roman Pawlowski conducts the Newark Symphony Orchestra as they perform Symphony No. 100 by Joseph Haydn. Guest Jonathan Russ is served food by Santa Fe Grill. Masquerade Gala guests watch the live auction.

Gala guests included Tessa Hart and Delaware Senator Liane Sorenson

During the evening there were performances by the Chapel Street Players, Delaware Dance Company, Mid-Atlantic Ballet and the Newark Symphony Orchestra and live and silent auctions of gift certificates, merchant baskets and artworks by members of the Newark Arts Alliance. This year's event featured gourmet food by several Newark restaurants, including the Blue Crab Grill, Caffe Gelato, Blackstones Pub, Homegrown Cafe, Santa Fe Mexican Grille, Iron Hill Brewery, and Kildare's Irish Pub, desserts by Amber Waves Bakery and Bing's Bakery, and of course great coffee by Brewed Awakenings. Our honorary event chair was Newark Mayor Vance Funk and our celebrity auctioneer was New Castle County Executive Chris Coons. You can see some of the auction items here.

At the end of the evening there was a raffle for two tickets on Southwest Airlines!

Getting ready for the Masquerade Gala are (clockwise, starting back row left side) Nancy Breslin, a board member at the Newark Arts Alliance; Dawn Calzada, a member of the Mosaic steering committee; Stan Hajec, President of the Newark Symphony Society and member of the Mosaic steering committee; Alexandria Johnston, a principal dancer with the Delaware Dance Company; Roman Pawlowski, Music Director of the Newark Symphony Orchestra; and Beth Chajes, Vice President of the Mid-Atlantic Ballet board. Photo by Catriona Binder-Macleod

We thank our wonderful sponsors!