In the first installment of Behind the Box, Kerry Maloney is tasked with hosting a special event to feature and sell unique art to benefit Variety the Children’s Charity of New York. The problem? She doesn’t have the budget to rent a gallery or hire a professional production company. Watch Kerry get creative and transform their office into an art gallery, for just 1 night!

The event is called ICC (Inspire. Collaborate. Create.) – a small, yet impactful fundraiser. The event pairs established artists with youth from Variety’s partner organizations. These partnerships use arts as a catalyst to help under-served youth (including: homeless, in foster care, refugees, autistic, court-involved, and youth with PTSD) to gain social, professional and academic skills they need to succeed. Each art piece (created by a young person) is used as the inspiration for the artist that they are paired with. The professional artists are then tasked with creating a one-of-kind unique piece that we will then be sold through a silent auction on the night of the event.

Kerry’s office is located on 55 Broad Street, just a few steps away from the New York Stock Exchange. Like most nonprofits, their office was designed with versatility in mind. The space is used by the Variety staff for meetings, trainings and other collaborative work.

In order to host this event, Kerry and team decided to entirely break down the office and make it resemble an art gallery. The first challenge was re-arranging everything to make more room. They had to disassemble most of desks, conference tables and furniture and hide them in their small storage closets. The rest doubled as auction tables, food tables, bars, and a DJ booth. This is especially admired by New Yorkers who always get creative with small spaces to make the most of it!

Aside from transforming the space, Kerry promoted the event to their database of donors, supporters and grantees by mailing them hard invitations. To further her reach, she used social media channels to promote the event, which turned out to be quite effective. On the night of the event, Kerry used Diobox to manage her guest lists and check in all attendees. Using smart event technology helped with streamlining this process and getting guests quickly inside. This was a lot more efficient than using traditional clipboards!

At the end, the event turned out to be a huge success. The crowd was filled with an eclectic mix of artists of all ages, tastemakers, street artists, and young professionals. They garnered a new audience of people that genuinely wanted to get involved and help spread the word about Variety the Children’s Charity of New York. They also sold nearly all the pieces and raised more money than the previous years. With all the money and all the publicity, they are looking forward to reserving a proper gallery next year. But that will have its own set of challenges!

Until the next event.

About Variety the Children’s Charity of New York

Since 1948, Variety the Children’s Charity of New York has made a difference in the lives of children by providing essential funds to non-profit organizations in the Tri-State area. Our grant making practices reflect our mission “to support grassroots non-profit organizations in the Tri-State area whose programs use the arts as a catalyst to transform the lives of under-served children” by providing healthcare, education and extracurricular opportunities for thousands of children. Variety New York provides more than grants to grassroots organizations that are transforming the lives of under-served children through the arts. Variety provides a comprehensive, value-added set of resources that include technical assistance, evaluation, partnerships and collective infrastructure. For more information, visit: http://varietyny.org/

About Behind the Box

Behind the Box is a video series, directed and produced by Diobox, featuring hard-working event organizers faced with big challenges when producing an event. Whether it’s creating the invitation, tracking RSVPs, managing guest lists, or setting up the venue, event organizers work tirelessly to achieve success in all fronts. And in most cases, they remain nameless without any recognition from the guests or the public. Behind the Box aims to spotlight these unsung heroes one event at a time.

Star in the next Behind the Box

Do you think you or someone you know could be a good candidate for the next Behind The Box film? Write us at [email protected] with some details about your next event and why it would be a good fit. We review all inquiries and respond to all emails!