Feb 11, 2007

Wine-tasting art gallery show benefits Bing Nursery School

By Janet Duca Norton / Society Columnist

Palo Alto-based Chelsea Art Gallery's Feb. 3 wine-tasting benefit for Stanford's Bing Nursery School scholarship fund was a collage of fine wine, friendship and interesting art.

Gallery owners Suzanne and Indra Mohan welcomed more than 50 parents, faculty and friends to view the gallery's current "Ten British Artists" exhibit of mixed seascapes and urban street scenes and invited guests to sample signature wines from Napa Valley vintners Patz & Hall, Tres Sabores, Frank Family and Charles Creek Vineyards.

"Bing is such a wonderful school, and we want to help with scholarships so a mix of children can attend," Suzanne Mohan said. Bing parent Loren Gruner showed her appreciation for Mohan's efforts with a surprise gift of a gorgeous green orchid.

For 40 years the famous nursery school on the Stanford campus has served as a research laboratory for the Department of Psychology, and has received international recognition for the quality of its teaching and ground-breaking studies on child development. Undergraduate and graduate students learn about children through firsthand experience in the classroom. A staff of 40 highly-trained and dedicated teachers and administrators provide education for 450 children ages 2 to 6.

The scholarship fund helps about 25 percent of the school's families. For more than a decade, the goal has been to increase diversity with outreach to many Bay Area residents, as well as Stanford student families. For 18 years, the annual Harvest Moon Auction has been the principal fundraising event for the scholarship fund. This year's auction co-chair Dale Race-Hampton and donations chair Neela Gentile said they are already brainstorming with their committee chairs.

Wine tasters included Bing Assistant Director Jennifer Winters, Bing Admissions Director Svetlana Stanislavskaya and Nandini Bhattacharjya.

Bing parents Walter and Melody Baumgartner, Geoffrey and Kathryn Gurtner, Ken and Nicole Thom, Rick and Mara Wallace, Dana Weintraub and Michael Callahan renewed friendships, sampled chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon and studied the interesting paintings.

Although the gallery specializes in contemporary British art, the upcoming March show will present an exhibition of California artist Albert Smith's abstract paintings.