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White House Shindig: Artists get to see their handiwork
Photo Courtesy of Chris Turner
Two local artists got to see their ornaments at the White House.
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Published: December 22, 2008
Being artists recently paid big dividends for Pete Driscoll and Rebecca Stone-Danahy -- it got them invited to a holiday shindig at the White House with first lady Laura Bush.
The two local artists were among hundreds of artists across the country who painted an ornament for the official White House tree, and, at a Dec. 2 party given by the first lady, they were able to admire their ornaments up close.
Driscoll's ornament depicts North Carolina from the mountains to the sea. Stone-Danahy's focuses on the coast -- it has a boat tootling by a lighthouse and beach umbrellas.
Here's how the artists and their ornaments got there:
Earlier this year, the first lady gave each member of Congress the opportunity to invite an artist to decorate an ornament for the White House tree, which, as it happens, came from North Carolina. Every artist chosen was sent an identical jumbo-size ornament and asked to stick with a red-white-and-blue theme while depicting their state in some way.
Sen. Richard Burr's office chose Driscoll, a Bermuda Run artist who specializes in doing scrimshaw on old ivory piano keys. Burr's people were familiar with Driscoll because he has visited the office a couple of times. The first time was on a trip with the grandkids a couple of years back.
"As a little thank-you token, I gave him a little scrimshaw of Wait Chapel," Driscoll said.
Rep. Virginia Foxx's office chose Stone-Danahy, who is the fine-arts chairwoman at Forsyth Country Day School. The people in Foxx's office met Stone-Danahy when she went to Washington earlier this year with Emily Raines, a Forsyth Country Day student whose painting was chosen to represent the 5th District in the U.S. Congressional Art Show.
Not every member of Congress came up with an ornament, and, not surprisingly, the ornament from the Seattle artist who put "Impeach Bush" on her ornament didn't make it onto the tree. In the end, the 20-foot Fraser fir was decorated with ornaments from 369 artists.
The artists, who paid their own way to Washington, were invited to bring a guest. Driscoll, 71, went with his wife, Jo Whitten May. Stone-Danahy, 38, took Stacie Rich, a friend since both were in high school.
Both artists found that their ornaments were getting good play on the tree. Stone-Danahy said that hers was visible from three of the five doors into the Blue Room. Driscoll found his perhaps 30 inches off the floor so he didn't have to crane his neck to find it or anything.
"I was delighted," he said.
The party made a big impression on them. Although they were told not to sit on the furniture, they were, for the most part, given free run of the East Wing.
"It was a wonderful, wonderful event," Driscoll said. "We met people from all over the place. It was so uplifting."
With some strategic planning, Stone-Danahy was able to situate herself in a spot about two feet away from Laura Bush when she came in to speak to everyone.
At one point, thinking back to their days in high school together, Stone-Danahy said to her friend, "Did you ever dream that we would be standing in the White House having a glass of wine?"
Indeed not.
"It was a really nice moment," Stone-Danahy said.
■ Kim Underwood can be reached at 727-7389 or at kunderwood@wsjournal.com.
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