Behind the scenes of BIG

Festive photos have been appearing all week online of guests at the Brandywine River Museum's 40th birthday gala on Oct. 15. My friend Cathy Quillman, an artist and writer who lives in West Chester, was part of the behind-the-scenes décor committee, led by artist Mark Dance. She wrote the following account:
"I had a chance to see the design piecemeal when I was invited to be part of the requisite “top-secret” work crew. I think I spent more time talking to Dance about his plans than actually working, but that was partly because the work crew, ensconced at a secret location – ok, it was the “Draper Barn,” a historic barn near [Frolic] Weymouth’s estate – resembled the busy elves of Santa’s Workshop.
"Or maybe they looked like elves because all the décor items – colored pencils, paint brushes, even a palette knife – were fit for a giant. I was so caught up in the construction of each item, such as the truckload of PVC pipe and kitchen brooms used to make brushes, it didn’t occur to me that Dance’s theme echoed the word “BIG!” on party invitation.
"The main theme was art, of course, which Dance carried out in nearly every aspect of his design, from the giant palettes used as table tops and the gilt picture frames “framing” the hors d’oeuvres tables to the “mock” art work and row of books showing N.C. Wyeth’s famous illustrations.
"Many of the décor items served a specific purpose: giant paint tubes were carved from Styrofoam and left unpainted, to be hung thirty feet in the air in the courtyard tent. The silky colored fabric spewing from the tubes served to cover the tent poles.
"Dance told me that he borrowed the N.C Wyeth pirate mural he made a few years ago (it had been purchased by a collector) and then created several giant sketches, reimagining classic Wyeth studies. Dance also channeled Andrew Wyeth and somehow came up with remarkably perfect imitations of the great artist’s frenetic drawing style. (Dance drew several field thistles and one sketch of a Wyeth model, but not Helga.)
"When it came time to make a giant “Chock full o' Nuts” coffee can to hold those paint brushes, Dance didn’t even attempt to recreate its label – that would have taken too much time, he said. A professional sign company created a label and then spent a few hours (again) in undisclosed location securing it to a base nearly as high as a garage door. At night, the “can” was wheeled on its platform and into a storage area behind the museum.
"On the night of the BIG event, it seemed that the party-goers were so absorbed in hubbub, which included posing for photographs behind painted picture frames and dancing to the lively Ward Marston Orchestra, they might have overlooked the little details. Tiny brushes were placed in cocktails, for instance, and behind the bartenders, one could catch glimpses of the coffee can, with its “Nutrition Facts” outlining museum facts such as the number of “serving of art” and “visitors to date.”
(Photo credit: Holly C. Clinger)