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ROM Prom, Toronto

The Royal Ontario Museum’s Young Patrons Circle hosted its final ROM Prom, the decade-old fundraiser targeted at next-generation trustees, on March 28 in Toronto. The event went out with a bang, taking on an energetic theme inspired by the current exhibition Douglas Coupland: everywhere is anywhere is everything is anything (on through April 26). Attendees were encouraged to don neon colours and awaken their inner child by digging through bins of Lego and participating in a museum-wide scavenger hunt. Gen X – and Y – guests included Greta Constantine; designer Kirk Pickersgill; blogger Anita Clarke; president and CEO of the ROM Board of Governors Susan Horvath; Chicago transplants, hat designer Julianne Glatz and senior vice president of Wirtz Beverage Canada John Donohue; fashion plate Jennifer Bratty; ROM managing director of Contemporary Culture Ann Webb; Muir Detlefsen & Associates’s Michael Detlefsen and Louise Le Beau; wedding planner Naomi Serkin; Scotiabank’s Casey Antolak; and Douglas Coupland himself, who snapped and signed Polaroid portraits of donors at a VIP reception. ROM Prom supports the museum’s exhibitions, galleries, research and programs.

(Photos by Nolan Bryant)

Douglas Coupland and Ann Webb.

Julianne Glatz

Carole Park

Selfie sticks in the ROM’s Ernest and Elizabeth Samuel Rotunda

Louise Le Beau

Kirk Pickersgill

Lego Metropolitan at Holt Renfrew, Toronto

Speaking of Coupland, Gumhead – the artist’s sticky interactive sculpture that’s been on display at Holt Renfrew Men in Toronto – has been replaced by an equally cheerful installation, Lego Metropolitan, which was unveiled on April 7 with a cocktail reception. Continuing the retailer’s ongoing artistic partnership program (Conn Smythe’s personal collection of sports memorabilia kicked things off a few months back), this latest display focuses of colourful structures meticulously constructed by Spafax president of content marketing Raymond Girard and captured by photographer Laird Kay. The project, which started as a stress-relieving exercise for Girard, now consists of some 600 buildings involving hundreds of thousands of Lego blocks. While they may look like child’s play, Girard noted that they also make a statement about urbanity and the similarity of cities in our globalized world. Among those toasting the colourful creations: design types Tommy Smythe, Mark Challen and Suzanne Dimma; Arriz+co founder Arriz Hassam; jeweller Myles Mindham and Stephen Gilles, director of development at the Canadian Opera Company; Design Exchange president Shauna Levy; artist Maurice Vellekoop and writer Gordon Bowness; radiation technologist Paul McCrossin; physician Parambir Keila and his wife, lawyer Anjli Patel. Lego Metropolitan: Works on paper and plastic by Raymond Girard and Laird Kay is on display until June.

(Photos by Nolan Bryant)

Raymond Girard with his creation Lego Metropolitan behind

Mark Challen (centre) with Suzanne Dimma and Arriz+ co-founder Arriz Hassam

Mary Symons

Lego Metropolitan installation

From left, Terry Ryan, Laird Kay and Paul McCrossin

Prada relaunch, Montreal

Holt Renfrew’s Montreal outpost christened its newly refurbished Prada boutique on March 25 with a fashion and champagne-fuelled fundraiser in support of the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation. The 130-square-metre space, outfitted with the Milan label’s signature black-and-white marble checkered floors, was wall-to-wall with the city’s social shakers – many attired in Prada’s latest collection – including Birks marketing and communications VP Eva Hartling (who headed the charitable component of the evening); social siblings Anna Antonopoulos and Maria Antonopoulos; event maker Marissa Nuss; Mary Dailey Desmarais; Dr. Diane Vachon; Debbie Zakaib, ball chair for the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal; designer Hilary Radley; and Marie-Josée Gariépy, president of the MCHF.

(Photos courtesy of Prada)

Sonia Price and Ksenia Boeva

Dominique Bertrand

Cheryl Besner and Erica Diamond

Rosemarie Bertrand and Adam Van Vlaardingen