We would like to extend an INVITATION for you to participate in an exciting event entitled

We would like to extend an INVITATION for you to participate in an exciting event entitled “Please Take a Seat”. It will be held in early June, 2008, at the Omni William Penn Hotel in Downtown Pittsburgh. The purpose of the event is to benefit the neonatal care unit at Magee Women’s Hospital. It will be a “chair auction” at the Spring Gala of The Twenty-Five Club with chairs decorated by well-known local artists, architects, designers and other celebrities in both a live and silent auction that evening.

The chairs accepted for the auction will also be on display during a PREVIEW PARTY the week preceding the auction at GALLERIE CHIZ in Shadyside. Three $100.00 awards will be given at this juried event. The artist may paint, decorate, build, or alter a chair of his/her own or we will provide a chair for the artist to use. Any chairs are game from baby and children’s chairs to “parking” chairs, comfy and not-so-comfy chairs, functional and non-functional chairs, and maybe even an Eames’ chair (?). Let your imagination soar!

We expect this to be a very exciting, well-attended event with lots of publicity for the artists. The GOAL for the auction is to raise $750,000.00 for Magee’s neonatal care unit. This is an important endeavor and we hope we can count on YOU to participate in this worthy cause. We have chosen exceptionally CREATIVE and generous people to lend us their talents and have some FUN with this challenge at the same time. The display of approximately 50 chairs will show what our vibrant art community here in Pittsburgh can do!

The Chairperson for this event is Carol Massaro of The Twenty-Five Club, a group whose main mission for 70 years has been to provide funds for research at Magee's neonatal unit. The neonatal unit cares for the sickest babies born at Magee and other hospitals. The most recent project, an absolute necessity, is the establishment of a Chair in neonatology at Magee Women’s Hospital, which will benefit the neonatology unit at Children’s Hospital as well. The total cost of the Chair is $1,500,000.00. The Twenty-Five Club has already given $750,000.00 to partially fund the Chair and has committed to raise the additional $750,000.00 needed.

YOUR HELP WOULD BE SO APPRECIATED! I know this date seems far in the future, but it will be here before we know it. We are already collecting chairs to be decorated, so the sooner you get to us, the sooner we can get a chair to you if you need one! Please respond as soon as possible by phone at 412.441.6005 or by email to GALLERIE CHIZ to let me know if you will join us. We hope you can!