FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact:
Anne Abrams
Charles Zukow Associates
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Art of Dessert
Annual Fundraiser at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
Raises Record-Breaking $400,000
To Support Education Through the Arts Programs
WINNER OF THE 2015 ART OF DESSERT CAKE COMPETITION, DONATED BY VILLAGE BAKERY
(PHOTO BY WB PHOTOGRAPHY)
Santa Rosa, CA (April 14, 2015) – Art of Dessert, the annual fundraising event at Wells Fargo Center for the
Arts, held Saturday, April 11, supporting the Center’s “Education Through the Arts” programs, raised
$400,000, breaking all previous records. The “Fund-a-Need” portion of the live auction raised $125,000,
plus an additional $75,000 matching donation from Lytton Rancheria – Lytton Band of Pomo Indians.
At the event, Alan and Susan Seidenfeld were honored with the 2015 Arts Benefactor of the Year Award.
The Seidenfeld’s have made significant contributions to Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, including multiple
gifts to the “Bridge to the Future” project. Alan Seidenfeld also serves on the boards of directors of Wells
Fargo Center for the Arts and the Santa Rosa Symphony
Other VIPs in attendance among the 300 guests included: Lawrence Amaturo – Sonoma Media Group;
Percy Brandon – General Manager, John Ash & Co./Vintners Inn; Erin Carlstrom – Santa Rosa City Council;
Carmen Castaldi – Rodney Strong Vineyards; Steve Falk – CEO of Sonoma Media Investments; Betty
Freeman – with late husband, Tom, one of the 12 families that founded the Center, also founder of
Freeman Lexus-Toyota; James Gore – Sonoma County Board of Supervisors; Steven J. Halpern, M.D. –North
Bay Cardiology and WFCA Board member; James Hinton – Santa Rosa Symphony Board President; Kristen
Madsen – Executive Director of Creative Sonoma; Margie Mejia - Chairwoman, Lytton Rancheria Lytton
Band of Pomo Indians and WFCA Board member; Rick Nowlin - Executive Director, Wells Fargo Center for
the Arts; Ernesto Olivares - SR City Council member, former mayor and WFCA Board member; Gary
Rosenberg - owner, Sonoma Lavender and WFCA Board Member; Lisa Wittke Schaffner – Executive
Director at The John Jordan Foundation, Sonoma County Board of Education member, former mayor of
Healdsburg; Tom Schwedhelm – Santa Rosa City Council, former SR police chief; Alan & Susan Seidenfeld –
philanthropists and honorees; Sherry Swayne - Board Chair, Luther Burbank Memorial Foundation; Willie
Tamayo - Executive Vice President at La Tortilla Factory.
All proceeds from the record-breaking event will benefit the Center’s “Education Through the Arts “
programs, which includes Music For Schools, School Shows, Artists in the Schools, New Song Music Camp,
Professional Development workshops through Kennedy Center’s Partners in Education program and more.
Wells Fargo Center for the Arts’ “Education Through the Arts” programs are distinctive and unlike other
arts organizations’ “Arts Education” efforts. The Center finds innovative ways to employ the arts to support
the teaching of math, science, reading, and all core curriculum subjects, inspiring original thinking,
improving comprehension, acknowledging different ways of learning, stirring creativity and improving
students’ overall performance in the classroom. While an added benefit may be to develop future
generations of both artists and arts audiences, the fundamental mission is to enhance a comprehensive
education through the arts as a way of reaching and engaging students to want to learn more.
The winning dessert, pictured above, was from Village Bakery. Other local bakeries and their dessert artists
represented at Art of Dessert were: Giorgi's Wedding Cakes, Costeaux French Bakery, Forget Me Not Cakes,
Your Sweet Expectations, Oliver's Market, Michele's Corner Cakes, Supreme Sweets, Sweetie Pies, SRJC
Culinary Program, Rassasy Cakes, John Ash and Co., Patisserie Angelica, Sweet Cakes, and Merci Beau Coup.
Left to right: Rick Nowlin (WFCA Executive Director), John Whiting (Moss Adams; WFCA Board Member),
Susan & Alan Seidenfeld, Sherry Swayne (WFCA Board President). Photo by WB Photography
About Wells Fargo Center for the Arts
A 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Wells Fargo Center for the Arts is home to world-class performances,
nationally recognized education programs, contemporary visual art, and many popular events. The Arts
Center is located in the heart of the Sonoma wine country and ranked among California’s top performing
arts presenters. Together with its resident companies, the Center presents more than 100 performances in
music, dance, theater, renowned speakers, and comedy; provides education programs serving 30,000
children and adults; and hosts more than 1,000 community events a year. Owned and operated by the
Luther Burbank Memorial Foundation, the Center relies on charitable community donations to achieve its
mission – to enrich, educate, and entertain.