Holiday House party!

Posted on 03. Dec, 2009 by Juan De Jesus in Arts and Culture, General, John Smock, Uncategorized, Urban

Tables were set last night-but not for dinner. The 2^nd annual Holiday House benefiting the Greater New York City Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure was hosted at the Emily and Leonard Blavatnik mansion on 2 E 63^rd St. on the Upper East Side.

The two-story mansion boasted 18 showcase tabletops from the countries premiere designers such as Harry J. Daniel, David Zisa, and MH Studio. The designers donated their talents in order to raise money for the breast cancer foundation.

“We appreciate their extraordinary creativity that brought the house to life in such a spectacular way,” said Iris Danker, a co-chair of the Holiday House and breast cancer survivor.

This event comes on the heels of last months U.S. Preventative Services Task Force announcement changing the way in which mammogram studies are performed in the U.S. The task force stated that women under the 50 should not get routine mammograms.  They also recommended that women over 50 should receive them at a frequency of every two years instead of the yearly standard.

According to the study “the additional benefit gained by starting screening at age 40 years rather than at age 50 years is small, and that moderate harms from screening remain at any age.”

Despite these recommendations the American Cancer Society, White House officials and Susan G. Komen experts highly disagree with the proposed recommendations.

Those same feelings were on full display last night as the Holiday House atmosphere was one of hope. The designers and patrons shared a renewed vigor in their fight to one day eradicate this disease.

Shari Markbreiter, a partner of MH Studio said, “Despite life’s misfortunes always celebrate every moment.”

Her design was heavily influenced by the color that has now become synonymous with the cancer battle.

“When we thought about or inspiration for the table we wanted happy, we happy colors that were happy so we turned to pink,” said Markbreiter.

Her table was traditional in nature.  The tabletop was adorned with yellow, pink, and red roses. Deep pink teacups with a thick stripe of gold on the rim were used to complement the alternating yellow and red dinner plates.

Designer Harry Daniel was almost brought to tears throughout the evening as people who stopped to comment on his design. The thick cream and pink striped tablecloth grounded the flower petal and black rock design. Green plates shaped like concave leaves sat upon pink and yellow plates accompanied by   shared their stories with him.

“There is an awareness about breast cancer, people were so open. Everyone was so willing to give to this design. I hope they also give back to the cause,” said Daniel.

The foundation hopes to generate a substantial amount of donations during this year’s show that runs until this Fri.  You can visit the house from now until Fri from the hours of 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.