The Washington Ballet ‘Nutcracker’ Tea

Jacoba and Lila Harris, Rebecca Fishman Harris, with Aerin, and Michelle Fenty. (Photo by Tony Powell)

A magical event: After the always-spectacular performance of The Nutcracker by The Washington Ballet, guests and their children enjoyed tea and sweets at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel. The real hit of the special afternoon for the kids? Meeting the fantastical cast and snapping pictures with the sought-after Sugar Plum fairies.

CELEBRATING THE SEASON: Mary Ourisman, Caroline and Jennifer Johnson, Sarah and Sadie Cannova, Fariba and Roxana Jahanbani, Ski Johnson, Shigeko and Tim Bork, and Lori and Danielle Soto.

The Washington Ballet and Bloomingdale’s show-off winter’s coolest looks and local personalities.

Arts patrons Tim and Shigeko Bork bring new life to Evalyn Walsh McLean’s former Georgetown home.

By Ernesto Santalla, AIA, LEED AP
Photography by Joesph Allen

Shigeko, Skye, and Tim Bork in the drawing room of their R Street NW home. The sculpture seen inthe background is titled "Valiant Struggle #4" by Chinese artist Chen Wen Ling.

Originally designed in 1814 by architect George Howe, the eye-catching Georgetown residence of Tim and Shigeko Bork was once owned by Evalyn Walsh McLean, Washington socialite extraordinaire and owner of the famed Hope Diamond. McLean was known to slide the supposedly cursed gemstone across the floor of the drawing room during lulls in the lavish parties she hosted. The Dumbarton Tennis Club acquired the house (after it had expanded to the size of an entire block) but eventually sold it to then-U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Alexander Kirk. After the enormous property was subdivided into a series of separate mansions, the club’s pool became a back alley, the ballroom part of one house, and the main kitchen part of another. In the 1960’s, grande dame Ella Poe Burling renovated her large section in the style of the time and her home remained largely untouched until 2001 when the Borks purchased it after her death.
 
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Transformer’s Victoria Reis on the art of collecting.

Victoria Reis and Carlotta Hester

Transformer, a Washington based non-profit visual arts organization, launched Collector’s View in the spring of 2008 to pursue a better understanding of the artwork people collect, the relationships collectors have with artists, and why people live with certain works of art. This decidedly different series provides an opportunity to intimately view some of Washington’s best privately-owned contemporary art collections, engaging these visionary art supporters in dialogue with artists, critics, and other patrons of the arts. The 2008 Collector’s View hosts included: Heather & Tony Podesta, Shigeko & Tim Bork, Jan & Peter Hapstak, and Christine Varney & Tom Graham. This year’s series’ hosts included: Barbara & Aaron Levine, Farinaz & Dadi Akhavan, Lorie Peters Lauthier, and Paul Yandura & Donald Hitchcock.

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The National Museum of African Art fetes its new director Johnnetta Cole

By Michael M. Clements

Timothy Bork, Vice Co-Chairs, African Art Advisory Board; The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton, Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole, Director, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution; Dr. Wayne Clough, Secretary, Smithsonian Institution

“Africa is beautiful,” could be the calling card for this night that saw the board of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) assemble at the home of gracious hosts Tim and Shigeko Bork to honor newly named director, Johnnetta Cole. Cole, whose speaking prowess and sheer dynamism was on full display during the intimate gathering of key friends and supporters of the NMAfA, is set to take over the museum with lofty goals.

“We want the [Museum of African Art] to be the best of the Smithsonian’s nineteen museums. And I’m not even counting the zoo,” Cole coolly commented as she stood and personally thanked each board member as well as those in attendance who have been so instrumental in the growth of the museum.

Washington D.C. representative Ellen Holmes Norton along with Ambassador HE Roble Olhaye, from the Republic of Djibouti, lead the list of esteemed attendees.

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