The kimmel center, inc.
In April 2011, The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts hosted its inaugural Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, a month-long Festival. Initially funded by a $10 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation, it was the first of its kind the Greater Philadelphia Region with more than 60 participating arts organizations. The theme of the first festival was Paris: the Belle Epoque, a period of burgeoning creativity in the early 20th century.
The ROZ Group worked closely with the Festival’s executive director and the Kimmel Center’s senior management team to provide overarching strategic planning and marketing support for the Festival. Additionally, we conceptualized, created, and managed two of the major categories: Culinary and Fashion.
A highlight of the culinary component was traveling to France to identify and invite 11 French master chefs to come to Philadelphia from Lyons and Paris. Each of the chefs was paired with a local French-influenced restaurant and chef to prepare special festival inspired menus. A highlight of the fashion component was honoring Philadelphia-native Ralph Rucci, the only American at that time who had been invited to show his amazing designs at haute couture in Paris. A major fashion event was held at the Kimmel Center, featuring the work of local designers and students from the university fashion departments.
The festival was an excellent opportunity for us to utilize our “roll up the sleeves” talents to participate in a visionary thinking process that resulted in a critically acclaimed artistic and audience development success.
For more information on The Kimmel Center, Inc., visit www.kimmelcenter.org or www.pifa.org.