Forget cool jazz or hot rock 'n' roll. When the American Visionary Art Museum has something to celebrate - like its current Home & Beast exhibit - you know it will sing its own tune. For its "Home & Beast Feast," AVAM kicked off the night with a polka band and ended it with country music.
"Tonight's theme is homey, just like the exhibit. With a stick-to-your-ribs feel," said AVAM's marketing guru, Pete Hilsee.
Guests in cowboy hats and bandannas ate hors d'oeuvres like mini hot dogs and burgers, as the Baltimore Polka Hoppers took center stage in the museum's Jim Rouse Center. AVAM founder/director Rebecca Hoffberger - dressed as a saloon girl in corset, petticoat and lace gloves - chatted with friends like MPT TV personality Rhea Feikin and photographer Phil Cooper.
"You can't design a better party environment," said Don Pettit, a lawyer for Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.
"Where else can you see a gigantic pink poodle?" asked his wife, Joan Pettit, Mally Beauty CEO, as she pointed to the huge sculpture in a corner.
It was all a perfect fit for the evening's honoree - Duff Goldman, owner of Charm City Cakes and star of the Food Network's Ace of Cakes.
"This museum is so what I do. I was never a trained artist. I just figured things out. [I knew] when it felt right. The people who do the art in the Visionary do it because it feels right," Goldman said.
A drink with Dan Roche
Firm owner goes from one peak to another
Dan Roche, 45, is chairman/CEO of e.magination, perhaps the largest Web-design firm in Baltimore. But, that's only one notch on this "serial entrepreneur's" belt. He's been a management consultant for several corporations and to government agencies and is the founder of several companies, including Condor Technology Solutions and Rapid Systems Solutions. After the sale of one of those businesses, Roche took a couple of years off to spend time with his family, during which he taught at University of Maryland, Baltimore County and started a foundation, Textbooks for Tots. In addition to e.magination, Roche co-owns a private duty home-care company in Michigan, a call center in Delhi, India, and a marina in Annapolis. He lives in Severna Park with his wife, Melissa, daughters Amanda, 15, Harmony, 13, and Olivia, 11, and son Nathan, 8 - and two dogs, a gecko and a bunny.
You refer to yourself as a serial entrepreneur.
That's what I love to do. I'm an Ayn Rand objectivist capitalist. I believe in globalism. When the economic tide comes in, all boats rise. It's the marina guy speaking.
So, how do you "play"?
I've done Kilimanjaro and Mount Elbrus. They're two of the seven highest [mountain] peaks in the world. I plan to climb all seven. ... The quote I like to give people when they ask why do I climb mountains ... I say, "You don't conquer the mountain. You conquer the man."
What do you do when you're not climbing mountains?
I guess the only places where I lose myself is on the golf course or the soccer field. You're in a zone.
So, you take off and travel a lot?
A lot. My business partner is [in] Delhi, [and] his son is getting married in August. So I get to take my whole family for the whole five-day Hindu ceremonies. I'm excited for myself. But I'm so excited for my kids, that they'll get to have that experience. My wife and I say our goal isn't to spoil our kids with stuff; it's to spoil our kids with experiences.
Is it tough to keep your kids' feet on the ground, when you can give them so much?
I'm kind of a preachy guy. When one of my kids says, "Dad, that's not fair," I say, "Life's not fair. You could've been born on a rice paddy in China, but you were born on the better side of fair." ... Last year, when we had spring break, we took the kids to the Galapagos [Islands] and Machu Picchu. One day, I took them for a walk through a neighborhood there. The people in the United States don't understand what poor is. ... Each kid [of ours], before they go to college, has to do an international humanitarian project. [I say] "Yeah, you do have a silver spoon in your mouth. What are you going to do with it? What are you going to do to make the world a better place?"