BY JESSICA COOK

Opera singer and Wes­ley vocal instruc­tor Bri­ta­nia Redington-Wilson is accom­pa­nied by hus­band Dr. James Wil­son, assis­tant pro­fes­sor of music.

THE SECOND ANNUAL Arts in the Par­lor fundrais­ing event held on Sat­ur­day, April 9 almost dou­bled in size and in funds raised from last year’s inau­gural event. Build­ing from last year’s suc­cess, this black-tie optional affair offered var­i­ous lev­els of spon­sor­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties as well as expanded enter­tain­ment and culi­nary options, all to ben­e­fit Wes­ley Col­lege scholarships.

Pres­i­dent and Mrs. Bill John­ston and the Wes­ley Col­lege Board of Trustees wel­comed more than 140 guests to the his­toric Schwartz Cen­ter for the Arts for a unique expe­ri­ence that fea­tured per­for­mance artists, musi­cians, visual artists, wine sam­pling and culi­nary art cre­ations. Pre­mier Spon­sors of the evening were Bay­health Med­ical Cen­ter and Ara­mark Cor­po­ra­tion. Finale Spon­sors included Wilm­ing­ton Trust and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Delaware. Sev­eral Encore Spon­sors, Debut Spon­sors and in-kind spon­sors also helped to make the evening pos­si­ble. The event plan­ning com­mit­tee, com­posed of Trustee Ann L. Bur­ton, Susan S. John­ston, Trustee Jane Mat­tern, Ali Stark ’64, Okemah Strick­land and Mary Jane Willis, all worked for months putting the details together.

From left: Trustee Rafael Zaragoza, Trustee Jane Mat­tern, Dr. Michael Mat­tern and Claire Zaragoza

Guests were treated to sev­eral main stage per­for­mances and enter­tain­ment through­out the Schwartz Cen­ter while enjoy­ing gourmet food and wine. Per­for­mances fea­tur­ing Wes­ley Col­lege stu­dent and fac­ulty musi­cians and vocal­ists included the Con­tem­po­rary Ensem­ble, Gospel Choir, Madri­gal Quar­tet, Drum­line, harpist and gui­tar duets. In addi­tion, 16 artists from among the Wes­ley com­mu­nity and local area dis­played their work, rep­re­sent­ing medi­ums such as flame­worked glass, wood turn­ing, mixed media, pho­tog­ra­phy, water­col­ors, acrylic and oil paint­ings. The artists were on hand to dis­cuss their cre­ations with guests through­out the evening. More than $26,000 in funds was raised to sup­port schol­ar­ships for Wes­ley Col­lege stu­dents, com­pared to $15,000 raised at last year’s event. “We were thrilled to host friends of Wes­ley at Arts in the Par­lor,” said Pres­i­dent John­ston. “This event brings the com­mu­nity and Col­lege together for a com­mon cause.”