The Place to Be

It’s important to Deryn Goodwin, a grad student in the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado Denver, that the space she works in actually meets and exceeds the environmental standards she studies every day — but that’s not the case in the old “dinosaur of a...

By Jessica Centers

May 7, 2009

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It’s important to Deryn Goodwin, a grad student in the College of Architecture and Planning at the University of Colorado Denver, that the space she works in actually meets and exceeds the environmental standards she studies every day — but that’s not the case in the old “dinosaur of a building” that the college is housed in now. So when Goodwin and other students realized the capital campaign for the design and construction of a new building for their department was falling by the wayside in these tough times, they decided to throw not just any fundraiser, but a ball. “This is our student effort to say we really want to keep this momentum going,” she says.

The 2009 Beaux Arts Ball: The Faces of Places is a semi-formal costume party benefiting the College of Architecture and Planning. Guests are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite place: Goodwin is going to be New Zealand, and her boyfriend is coming as the Taj Mahal. “I’m going to build this apparatus thing that attaches to a headband; that will be North Island,” she says. “South Island will be like a sandwich board I wear.”

The students are hoping to reinstate the ball, a bygone tradition of their college, as an annual event. For the theme, they were inspired by a 1931 Beaux Arts Ball in New York City, where well-known architects came dressed as skyscrapers. The ball, which includes music from Purnell Steen and Le Jazz Machine, as well as hors d’oeuvre and a cash bar, runs from 7 to 11 p.m. tonight at the Mercury Cafe, 2199 California Street; tickets are $25 for students, $45 for everyone else. For more information, call 303-718-9767.
Sat., May 9, 7-11 p.m., 2009

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