Art Prom 2014

Stoneboat Editors attempting to party

With Lisa as the exception, we here at Stoneboat are not extroverts. Our social skills are lacking, our willingness to go out in public is minimal, and our desire to meet new people is nearly nonexistent. Even talking on the phone gives us the willies. For Rob, Jim, and I, dancing the night away in front of strangers is about as appealing as water torture.  So when Lisa first proposed the idea of Art Prom, a "prom for grown-ups" fundraiser, we were a little skeptical. Willing to go along with it and willing to help her make it happen, but definitely skeptical. (And scared.) In the weeks leading up to the big event, we secretly wondered if anyone would come. We wondered if we'd lose a lot of money putting on this big dance party. And we wondered how on earth Lisa had convinced us to go along with it.



Our misgivings were, of course, unwarranted. Prom night arrived and it was as magical as it had been during high school -- more magical, probably, on account of being able to legally and openly drink. We have to give some credit to our intern, Mary Kate DeJardin, for engineering a stunning balloon arch, and we have to give a ton of credit to Kate Krause and the rest of the folks over at Paradigm Annex Theatre, our prom co-hosts, for having the business savvy and connections that we simply have not developed while sitting in Rob's basement keeping to ourselves and reading submissions. We couldn't have pulled this off on our own, and we are grateful for their willingness to partner with us and lead us through some intimidating event planning.

Photo by Jodie Liedke

Our human Zoltar machine was an enormous hit and a huge fundraiser (thanks to everyone who submitted a poem!), and the silent art auction raised awareness of some local and national artists while also generating funds for our organizations. All in all, we'd say that Art Prom 2014 was a huge success and we're excited for Art Prom 2015. We've already got some ideas for how to do it better and generate a bigger crowd, and the introverts among us are a little less nervous after surviving the inaugural prom.

We made some new friends in the community, we pushed ourselves to do something outside of our comfort zone, we brought poetry to the masses in the form of Zoltar fortunes, we got to see each other in fancy clothes, and Rob's daughter got to attend her first formal with her father.  All in all, not a bad outcome.

If you didn't make it this year, we forgive you. We were a little unsure about the prom concept, too. It ended up being a seriously kick-ass party, though, so you should definitely plan to be there next year. How many opportunities do you get to dance, drink, and dress up while supporting the arts? Not many. And how many opportunities do you get to watch me and Rob Pockat bust a move?  Even fewer. Trust us -- that alone is worth it.