Now in its 10th year, the Tennessee State Museum’s (TSM) annual fall fundraising event, Sparkle & Twang, honors the museum’s new inductees into its Costume & Textile Institute, and serves as a forum for introducing the museum foundation's newest class of the Young Professionals Council (YPC) members, ages 21-40.
Sparkle & Twang X, scheduled for the evening of Friday, November 13, 2015 from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at the Lexus of Nashville dealership in Metro Center (2010 Rosa Parks Blvd., Nashville), promises to build on what has become Nashville’s night to pay tribute to Tennessee’s most celebrated designers and icons of the fashion and music entertainment industry.
Sparkle & Twang co-chairs are Marcia Masulla, editor/community manager at 12th and Broad and a co-founder of Nashville Fashion Week, and Austin Pennington, owner of Barlow Builders. In the tradition of past years, CEOs, luminaries, and museum supporters will co-mingle at the event, which will be held for the second year inside the sparkling Lexus showroom (which features a boldly colored art glass chandelier, reminiscent of the work of acclaimed glass sculptor Dale Chihuly). The Patron Spirits Co. is the Evening Sponsor of Sparkle &Twang for the sixth consecutive year. Songstress Tanya Montana Coe will provide the entertainment at this year's event, along with the Sensational Sounds of DJ Gerard. The Bang Candy Company of Nashville will be preparing special confections for guests' enjoyment as a complement to the hearty selection of hors d'oeuvres.
Six Tennesseans will be inducted this year, including Libby Callaway, fashion media and journalist, Andra Eggleston, textile artist, Maria Silver, apparel designer, Diana Warner, jewelry and accessories designer, and Barry Wishnow, fashion entrepreneur, along with Bernard J. Lansky of the Lansky Bros. of Memphis, representing the first posthumous induction in the Institute's decade-long history.
The primary focus of the Costume & Textile Institute is to continue building the State Museum’s rich collection of fashion and textiles, in addition to ensuring proper preservation of the objects. In addition to recognizing the fashion achievements of Tennessee-based designers, the Costume & Textile Institute also affords the museum the opportunity to acquire historical clothing, gowns, jewelry and other textiles representing the trend-setting fashion of its day.
Each year, the museum inducts members to the Institute who are currently making integral contributions to American fashion or those who have had a major impact on the fashion industry during the past half-century or more. Inducted Institute members since 2005 include: Muna Abboud, Big Kenny Alphin, Clare Armistead, Sandi Spika Borchetta, Yvette Boyd, Moziah Bridges, Anastasia Brown, Rick Caballo & Melissa Core, Manuel Cuevas, Margaret Ellis, Arlyn Ende, Fletcher Foster, Jeff Garner, Judi Gaston, Joseph C.M. Gregory, Marsha Mason Hunt, Otis James, Katy Kattleman, Johnathan Kayne, Col. Garry Littleton, Betty Badd Malo, Georgette Mosbacher, Phillip Nappi, Bets Ramsey, Dee Shepherd, Jeanne Dudley Smith, Mike Smith and the Nashville Fashion Week Co-founders Connie Richardson, Marcia Masulla, Robert Campbell, Cindy Wall & Scott McClure, Dee Shepherd, Marty Stuart, Steve Summers, Pat Kerr Tigrett, Basil Tugman, Imogene & Willie and Olia Zavozina. Marianne Menefee Byrd is Founding Chair of the Institute.
Four Young Professionals Council members will also be introduced at the event. They include Janie Berry, Sarah Blood, Katie Lillard and Ryan Locker. Reen Locker Baskin serves as YPC president while Gloria Houghland is the group's volunteer director. The primary focus of the YPC is to develop a sustainable program for cultivating the interest of younger museum patrons in the museum's long-term future. Current members are: Callaway Alexander, Zach Bates, Brandy Martin Bivens, Erin Brown, Joe Burchfield, Frannie Preston-Daughrity, Anna Catherine Davenport, Kendall Mitchell Gemmill, Esseri Holmes, Katie Koban, Jen Lacey, Harrison Lowe, Josh Parant, Austin Pennington, Jameson Roper, Max Smith, Kathleen Overbey Thomas, Ryan Thomas, Ryan Walker, Sara Jo Houghland Walker, Pete Westerholm, Will White and Caroline Whittemore.
A spectacular silent auction, featuring donated items from Tennessee merchants, has been assembled by Auction Chair Nancy Russell, along with committee members Lucy Bond, Mary Nell Bryan, Linda Evjen, Mary Herbert, Marci Houff, Nadine Korby, Sabrina Langlois, Doris Medlin, Nikki Peal, Suzanne Smothers, Holly Spann, Faye Stewart and Gretchen White. Bidding opens at 7 p.m. and continues until 9:15 p.m.
Tickets may be purchased online at tnmuseum.org (click on the link above) or by calling Beth at the museum foundation office at (615) 741-2539. Prices are $175 per couple and $90 per person. Young professionals, ages 21-40, receive a discounted ticket at $50 per person.
About the Costume & Textile Institute Inductees:
Libby Callaway, Fashion Media Consultant & Journalist Native Tennessean Libby Callaway has held many jobs during her career, and they’ve all involved clothes. As a fashion journalist, she has contributed to Elle, T, Style.com, Travel + Leisure and Glamour, and the New York Post. Her secondhand shopping advice and unique personal style have been featured in InStyle, Lucky, Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue magazines and on The Today Show. She’s the former media director for Imogene + Willie and marketing director for Billy Reid. Other clients include Alabama Chanin, Amanda Valentine, Electra Eggleston, Elizabeth Suzann, Emil Erwin, Han Starnes, Nisolo and Otis James. Callaway is on the Advisory Board of OZ Arts, Nashville and is a founding member of the Nashville Fashion Alliance Board of Directors.
Andra Eggleston, Textile Artist Andra Eggleston, Founder and Creative Director of electra eggleston, Nashville-based textile designer Andra Eggleston honors her connection to her father, renowned photographer William Eggleston, and to textiles with a body of work based on a collection of the photographer’s own abstract drawings. Each print in the textile line is rich in story, which inspires its color, scale and name. Andra studied at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising (Los Angeles) and Central St. Martin’s (London). Raised in Memphis, the native Tennessean returned from New York in 2013.
Maria Silver, Apparel Designer Early in her career, Nashville resident Maria Silver worked on such hit Broadway productions as Mama Mia, 42nd Street and Gypsy. Since starting her Black by Maria Silver clothing line in 2011, Silver’s work has been featured in Elle, Nylon, Bust and Southern Living magazines, among others. She has shown at Nashville Fashion Week and was one of six finalists at St. Louis Fashion Week. Her rapidly growing list of clients includes such artists as John McCauley of Deer Tick and singer Ruby Amanfu. Silver’s work has been informed by both her Dominican heritage and her alter ego as an accomplished musician (Ranker.com voted Silver in its top 40 list of female drummers).
Diana Warner, Jewelry & Accessories Design Fashion and lifestyle designer Diana Warner was born in Nashville, but her family relocated to Knoxville at the age of six. Warner, who considers herself to be a true Knoxvillian, graduated from UT with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Since launching her business a decade ago from a small apartment in East Tennessee, Warner’s extensive brand, which has grown to include jewelry, accessories, clothing and shoes, can now be found in retail stores all over the world. Though she established her signature retail concept in Manhattan, she recently announced the move of her flagship retail location from NYC to Nashville. Her first signature store outside of NYC is in her hometown of Knoxville. Warner’s designs are worn by many celebrities and have been regularly featured on television including the CW network’s hit show, “Gossip Girl” and ABC-TV’s show, “Nashville.”
Barry Wishnow, Fashion Entrepreneur With more than 45 years of experience in the fashion industry, Wishnow has served as president of such leading companies as Hugo Boss and Calvin Klein. During his tenure as president of J Schoeneman, the co
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