- Fundraiser Benefitting Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research, including Cranbrook Archives
- Highlighting the Life and Work of Loja Saarinen as a Finnish Immigrant, Pioneering Entrepreneur, and Extraordinary Designer
- Opportunities for Sponsors and Patrons to Celebrate In Person at Cranbrook in the Saarinen Family’s Masterwork, Kingswood School, or in Your Own Home!
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research invites you to celebrate the many contributions that Loja Saarinen and her pioneering workshop, Studio Loja Saarinen, made to Cranbrook and the world. Your support of House Party 2022 this May advances the Center’s primary mission—stewarding and sharing the diverse art, architecture, landscape, design, and historical resources that comprise the Cranbrook legacy.
House Party 2022 Co-Chairs
- Amy Spitznagel, Chair
- Kris Appleby
- Cassandra McCarthy
- Jennifer Granger
- Marla Karimipour
- Barbara Askar Kouza
Guests of Honor
- Robert Saarinen Swanson, Architect and Loja’s Grandson
- Eric Saarinen, Filmmaker and Loja’s Grandson
- Susan Saarinen, Landscape Architect and Loja’s Granddaughter
- Karen Swanson, Architect and Loja’s Great-Granddaughter
Special Guests
- Gerhardt Knodel, Director Emeritus, Cranbrook Academy of Art, and Former Artist-in-Residence, Fiber Department
- Lynn Bennett Carpenter, Artist-in-Residence, Kingswood Weaving Studio, Cranbrook Schools
Auctioneer
- Robert DuMouchelle, DuMouchelle Auction Galleries
Virtual Program - Presented in Your Home
Location: Anywhere in the World!
7:00pm – 7:45pm EDT Loja Saarinen Virtual Film Premiere
Virtual tickets are available at varying levels for guests who wish to celebrate Loja’s many accomplishments from the comfort of their own home while enjoying the premiere of the Center’s new film about the life and work of Loja Saarinen. There are also fantastic virtual ticket packages for groups and businesses who want to share this memorable film premiere with others. Ticket packages for the virtual program are available for purchase today.
In-Person Program for Sponsors - Presented at Cranbrook
Location: Kingswood School, Cranbrook Educational Community
5:30pm – 10:30pm EDT Cocktails, Special Guests, Film Premiere,
Dinner, and Live Auction
150 of the Center’s most generous supporters will celebrate the life and work of Loja Saarinen under her most important textile, The Festival of the May Queen Tapestry in Kingswood School. Sponsor packages all include tickets to the in-person House Party program.
Setting the tone for the celebration in Kingswood School, which opened its doors to the first class of young ladies in 1931, will be the House Party 2022 Co-Chairs elegantly attired in formal dress inspired by the 1930s and their dapper companions sporting black tie. Whether guests are wearing vintage or contemporary, black tie or business attire, they should come prepared to join a party! For more House Party 2022 fashion inspiration, read Beginning the Beguine on the Cranbrook Kitchen Sink blog.
Spaces for this special opportunity are limited. Individual tickets for the in-person celebration will be sold if available closer to the event.
For the first time ever, the Center’s popular House Party fundraiser will be presented in a hybrid format, allowing supporters to take part in the special evening either online or in person, with both options benefitting Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research. Virtual participants will have the opportunity to experience the premiere of the Center’s new film produced specifically for House Party 2022, providing an insider’s look into the remarkable life and work of Loja Saarinen. The thirty-minute film will take viewers on a journey through the spaces where Loja's designs can be observed on Cranbrook’s campus and around the world. Utilizing the resources of Cranbrook Archives and never-before-seen photography by James Haefner of more than twenty Studio Loja Saarinen rugs, the Center will bring forward the rich textile traditions that are so deeply connected to the Cranbrook story.
Host Committee participants, Patrons, and Sponsors of A House Party at Cranbrook Celebrating Loja Saarinen will have the exclusive opportunity to enjoy the premiere of the film in Kingswood School. In the Green Lobby and Weaving Room, Auditorium and Dining Hall, our guests will experience, firsthand, Loja Saarinen’s world while celebrating among some of Studio Loja Saarinen’s most notable textiles and designs, including The Festival of the May Queen Tapestry, arguably the greatest work ever commissioned from Loja’s enterprising Studio. The in-person program includes appearances by special guests, dinner inspired by the distinguished dinner parties hosted at Saarinen House by Loja, and a unique live auction comprised of one-of-a-kind experiences and carefully curated design objects. On the evening of the event, only the May Queen Sponsor will enjoy exclusive private seating for twelve guests in the Upper Dining Hall overlooking both the Kingswood Dining Hall and Auditorium for the film premiere, dinner, and live auction program.
In 1939 Loja wrote a note expressing her discontent for not being included in The Academy News: “Didn’t you think my activities were enough important to mention.” She goes on to make an exhaustive list of what she accomplished the past year, at Cranbrook and around the world, and signs the correspondence “That’s all!” Now in 2022, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research looks forward to celebrating the important accomplishments of Loja Saarinen with you! For more information about Loja Saarinen, click the button below.
To purchase a Host Committee, Patron, or Sponsor package and learn more about sponsor benefits, click below. All of these packages include tickets to the in-person celebration at Kingswood School on May 21, 2022.
To purchase and learn more about the virtual film premiere ticket levels, click below.
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research gratefully acknowledges our most generous patrons of A House Party at Cranbrook Celebrating Loja Saarinen.
We will be updating the Donor Wall weekly – and hope to include your name soon!
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research salutes our Business Partners for their support of A House Party at Cranbrook Celebrating Loja Saarinen.
We will be updating the Business Partner Wall weekly and hope to include your business soon!
Click below for a sneak peek at the unique objects and experiences carefully curated by the Center for the House Party 2022 Live Auction.
Please note that the Live Auction will be part of the in-person celebration only.
Loja Saarinen is known today primarily as a weaver – a legacy that she helped to define but which mischaracterizes her many roles at Cranbrook. To learn more about Loja and her work as a textile designer and director of Studio Loja Saarinen, Head of the Department of Weaving at Cranbrook Academy of Art, landscape designer, and even model maker for Eliel Saarinen’s architectural projects, click the button below.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For more information about the Center’s 2022 fundraiser, A House Party at Cranbrook Celebrating Loja Saarinen, please contact Center Director of Development Anna Mrdeza at AMrdeza@cranbrook.edu or by phone at 248.645.3215.
HEALTH AND SAFETY PROTOCOLS
The Center cares about the health and wellbeing of our House Party guests. This hybrid event provides you opportunities to support the Center in person or online.
For our in-person guests, our plans align with current Cranbrook protocols for COVID-19 mitigation: Cranbrook highly encourages all participants to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and, when events are indoors, all participants are strongly encouraged to wear masks when not eating or drinking, be aware of physical distance, and under no circumstances should attend if they are ill.
We are vigilant on these fronts, especially when social events utilize our academic spaces and studios, in order to safeguard our students' and artists' ability to continue with their in-person learning and work. We will continue to monitor the public health situation and, should conditions warrant, all event logistics and protocols are subject to change at any time and at Cranbrook’s discretion.
PHOTO CREDITS
Unless otherwise noted, Photography by James Haefner.
Header: George Booth Office Carpet/Museum Rug, 1931, Studio Loja Saarinen (maker); Maja Andersson Wirde (designer); Wool pile, linen warp, 282 x 142 inches (716.3 x 360.7 centimeters); Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum.
Loja Saarinen and Eliel Saarinen at Crandemonium Ball, February 1934; Photograph Courtesy of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
Detail of Rug with Tree Motif, 1930, by Studio Loja Saarinen; Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum.
Rug from the Stabler Home, circa 1945, by Loja Saarinen (designer/weaver); Wool, linen warp, 94½ x 49 inches (240 x 124.5 centimeters); Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum.
Sponsor Package Image: Detail of George Booth Office Carpet/Museum Rug, 1931, by Studio Loja Saarinen; Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum.
Virutal Film Premiere Image: Detail of Rug with Animal Motif, 1932, by Studio Loja Saarinen; Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum.
Donor Wall Image: Detail of George Booth Office Carpet/Museum Rug, 1931, by Studio Loja Saarinen; Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum.
Business Partner Wall Image: Detail of Rug, 1932, by Studio Loja Saarinen; Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum.
Auction Items Image: Detail of Kingswood School Rug No 29 – Rooftops, 1931, by Studio Loja Saarinen; Cultural Properties Collection, Kingswood School for Girls.
About Loja Saarinen Image: Detail of Rug with Animal Motif, 1932, by Studio Loja Saarinen; Collection of Cranbrook Art Museum.
House Party Logo: Designed by Ed Ryan, CAA '22.