57th Corcoran Ball Offers Ambassadors, Senators, Cabinet Secretaries A Peek At What’s NEXT!

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- With a building backdrop as picturesque as the thousands of priceless works of art held within, the Corcoran Gallery of Art was brimming with color on Friday evening, during the 57th annual Corcoran Ball.

The venerable institution’s signature black tie fundraiser of the year, the elegant affair attracted a guest list commensurate with the exclusivity of the night, including sitting members of Congress, Ambassadors, members of both the current and past Presidential administrations, as well as a litany of Washington’s most active philanthropists.

2012 Ball Chair Deborah de Gorter and French Ambassador François Delattre.
Everyone from Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) to former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff to Ward 2 D.C. Councilmember Jack Evans to His Excellency François Delattre, Ambassador of France to the United States, were spotted mingling about the museum.

The French Ambassador was in particular demand during the event, as everyone was clamoring for some face time with the future host of one of the city’s hottest parties of the year: Saturday’s Vanity Fair/Bloomberg White House Correspondents’ Dinner after party at the Embassy of France.

For one night only, the prized artwork hanging on the gallery’s walls were close to being overshadowed by the interior design of the venue itself. In the months leading-up to Friday's benefit, the Corcoran’s dynamic Women’s Committee had toiled away (as they do every year) in order to transform each room of the museum into its own colorful ‘seasonal’ showcase, complete with individualized table settings and color schemes.

As an added treat, the evening’s more than 1,000 attendees were afforded the opportunity to admire a showcase of the work of the Corcoran’s talented graduating senior class, dubbed NEXT at the Corcoran.

Returning again this year was the ball’s more rambunctious late night party dubbed ‘Club Corcoran’. Designed for the city’s young professionals as a way of providing them access to the party at a more affordable ticket price, Club Corcoran invited attendees to join dinner guests at the museum at 10:00 p.m. for dancing and libations (this after hours fete will surely assume a more prominent role in the years ahead, so twenty and thirtysomethings take note!).

Alas, even then, the belle of the Corcoran Ball just might remain the building itself (again, for one night only)!

An earlier version of this story listed Ambassador François Delattre's wife in attendance at the ball. She was not able to make it, however.