Reserve your tickets now for the August 23 Monongalia Arts Center Bootleggers Ball fundraiser.
There won’t be any bathtub gin at the Monongalia Arts Center on August 23, but there will be live jazz, Charleston dancing, and Prohibition-era cocktails—it’s the Bootleggers Ball, the MAC’s 2025 fundraiser.
Last year’s fundraiser, A MAC Summer Night’s Dream, raised 15% of the organization’s operating budget, says MAC Director Aldona Bird. That went a long way to supporting the arts organization’s robust and varied schedule of programming, including swing dancing every week, music concerts regularly, and workshops on painting, drawing, ikebana, and more
The revenue also supported new programming and services. Those include the opening in the past year of a third gallery as well as a new community maker space where the public can, for a small day-use or monthly fee, have access to a growing inventory of art supplies as well as a darkroom and a pottery studio. “We keep expanding that so we can really have a creative hub for the community,” Bird says.
Event organizers hope this year’s Bootleggers Ball will draw even greater support.
“We’re going to have a couple of art demos and a hands-on art project that people can participate in,” Bird says. “Swingside Jazz Band will play through the evening, there’ll be a speakeasy in the basement with Old Fashioneds and Bee’s Knees made with liquor distilled in West Virginia. Also beer, wine, kombucha, and other non-alcoholic options.” Cafe Rose will cater a grazing table with light refreshments, snacks, and desserts, and the gallery’s outdoor space will be open with a bar and tables.
Twenties party attire is encouraged! And be ready to dance: Morgantown Swing Dance is offering a Charleston lesson for sponsors and VIP ticket holders before doors open at 7 p.m. and will be around all evening for spontaneous lessons and pointers.
The fundraiser begins at 7 p.m. at 107 High Street downtown. Regular tickets, at $70 per person, include snacks and entertainment, and a $100 VIP ticket adds a champagne toast before the doors open, a beer/wine drink ticket, a dance lesson, your name on the program, and inclusion in a social media “thank you” post.
“The funds that we raise through the Bootleggers Ball will go directly to supporting community arts programming,” Bird says. “We hope people will dress up and have a really good time engaging with the arts.”
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