July 14
Kathryn Walt Hall and Craig Hall hosted Festival Napa Valley’s annual Arts for All gala at their namesake winery in St. Helena. It’s one of the hot tickets of the summer, and if your name was on the list, you were in good company: This year, Seal took the stage to perform jazzy standards from the Great American songbook in the grand tradition of top-tier headliners including Bill Murray and Kristin Chenoweth. (And, yes, he also sang “Kiss From a Rose.”) The event, which included an auction offering exotic trips all over the world and VIP status at the Venice Film Festival, raised $2.6 million to support public school art education programs in Napa County and fund scholarships for promising musicians as well as free and affordable access to once-in-a-lifetime musical performances featuring the best of the best.
Against a backdrop of idyllic, high-summer vineyard views, guests noshed on high-end cuisine from Meadowood Napa Valley paired with excellent wines from Hall, Walt and Domaine Carneros. For dessert: homemade Oreos, chocolate-dipped churros and Cowgirl Creamery’s Mt. Tam with persimmon and pine nuts.
Spotted in the crowd: Nancy Pelosi, Rick Walker, Leslie Frank, Robert Horry, Sophia Bacelar, Gregg Field, Monica Mancini, Tatiana Copeland, Pam and Dick Kramlich, Helen and Stanley Cheng, Lorna Meyer Calas, Robert Tellis, Shane Jacoby, Kathleen McIntosh and Michael Covarrubia, Kim and Dan Johnson, Carolina Centola, Athena and Timothy Blackburn, Shahpar and Darioush Khaledi, Tammy Prust, Dave Beeman, Kacy Shaw, Judy and Jin Chang and amusing, high-energy auctioneer Fritz Hatton. Until next year, Kathryn and Craig!
