A new cultural season is upon us, an exciting moment to look forward to the wealth of performances coming to South Florida stages — and to the parties.
On Saturday at The Parker in Fort Lauderdale, the Ghost Light Society will throw its first event of the season, a cocktail party-style fundraiser featuring singer-songwriter Steven Page, once of indie-rock favorites Barenaked Ladies.
Aimed at young professionals age 25 to 45, the Ghost Light Society is one of many donor groups affiliated with museums, music organizations and cultural venues across South Florida. Ghost Light was founded 15 years ago to support arts education programs at Fort Lauderdale’s Broward Center for the Performing Arts.
If you are looking for a way to get involved with a new crowd of engaged residents while supporting the local arts scene, groups such as Ghost Light offer a great place to start.
During the season, Ghost Light members typically get together a few hours before select shows to have food and drinks, and then attend the performance together. The annual Ghost Light Society Soirée on Saturday, a ticketed affair open to everyone, is their biggest fundraising event of the year.
“It’s a room full of amazing business leaders … [and] people who all love the arts,” says Christi Lyn Rice, one of the cofounders of Ghost Light in 2009. “It’s just a fun event, great networking, but you know that the people in there are all coming together for this one cause.”
Courtesy
Singer-songwriter Steven Page, a founding member of the Barenaked Ladies, will headline the 15th Anniversary Ghost Light Society Soirée on Saturday at The Parker in Fort Lauderdale. (Broward Center for the Performing Arts/Courtesy)
The 15th annual event has a Broadway theme and will take place from 7 to 11 p.m., with guests assembled on the stage (no seats) at The Parker in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The gathering will include food, an open bar and dancing, with Page performing while facing the back of the stage. Tickets cost $300+ at BrowardCenter.org.
Rice was 25 when she helped start Ghost Light and was a volunteer for several years before becoming director of grants and development at the Broward Center. She says cuts in state funding for the arts this year have made support groups like Ghost Light even more critical.
“I know so many arts organizations are struggling this year because of the state funding cuts, which makes it all that much more important to have this private support,” she says. “Having a group of leaders like this coming together in such a visible way to show that they support the arts … hopefully increases advocacy for the arts in general and in arts education.”
Rice says the arts are “big business” in South Florida and there is no better investment than the program at the Broward Center, which hosts classes for more than 100,000 Broward County students each year. It’s the largest free arts-in-education program in the nation, she says.
“Students who participate in the arts get involved in their community,” Rice says. “We don’t expect that everyone will go on to have a career in the arts, but they learn skills that lead to successful careers and community involvement.”
IF YOU GO
WHAT: 15th Anniversary Ghost Light Society Soirée
WHEN: 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28
WHERE: The Parker, 707 NE Eighth St., Fort Lauderdale
COST: $300+
INFORMATION: BrowardCenter.org
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Instagram @BenCrandell and Twitter @BenCrandell.
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