The Great and Powerful Red Party

Clear your calendar and summon all your costume party brilliance for next Thursday’s Red Party at the Old City Jail. Now in it’s fourth year, The Red Party is the American College of the Building Art’s annual fundraiser. But to be clear, the Red Party is to fundraiser what Mardi Gras is to religious celebration. This year, the Old City Jail (the inimitable home of the ACBA) will be transformed to the theme of The Wizard of Oz. It’s the perfect theme for the perfect setting and while I can’t tell you everything we have up our sleeves, look for inspiration from:

The Emerald City, 

that vibrant field of poppies, 

Dorothy’s Kansas homestead, 

and naturally, “Over the Rainbow,” the wistful signature song from the 1939 film.

It has been such an honor to dream up the concept and design behind the event for the second year in a row. Together with a dream team of Charleston talent, we’ve funneled months of creative energy, hard work, and a whole lot of love for American College of the Building Arts into what promises to be the best Red Party yet.

To the unacquainted, (and in light of Charleston’s recent accolade from Conde Nast as THE TOP CITY IN THE U.S.!), I want to highlight that the American College of the Building Arts and it’s annual Red Party are an inherent part of what makes up the very fabric of Charleston; The Red Party because it’s a damn good time, and the College because, as Mayor Riley put it best, " People have always looked to Charleston as a leader in style, in design, and in preservation. People come from all over the world to experience the building arts here in Charleston. Now they will come to Charleston to study those arts and to preserve them and to carry them back out into the world. The American College of the Building Arts will be Charleston’s gift to America."

So find yourself a costume, close your eyes, and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself, there's no place like home.

See y’all Thursday!