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First Fridays at the MCA
“Wow, those are some pretty hot boots,” a tall, dark and Heinekin-holding stranger murmured as I stood waiting in front of him at the coat check. It was First Fridays at The Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) although perhaps more widely known as one of the hottest and most popular singles hot spots in town. I took the compliment as a good omen as my twin sister, Kerry, and I made our fashionable entrance into the main hall of the museum. The crowd was ridiculously good-looking and I had to give props to my fellow fashionistas for lifting the style bar to a whole new sphere of good taste. Thus began my 120-minute adventure with 1,400 well-heeled Chicagoans into finding true love amongst fine art--or perhaps somewhere between the cocktail line and the mini burger buffet.
As we strategically made a bee-line for the cash bar, I spied one of my comfortably single and man-about-town friends, Tony Monterastelli, who looked very well-edited in a blue blazer and slacks.
“Nice boots,” Tony commented, eyeing my black-and-white patent leather platforms that would have made Julia Roberts blush. I realized that I had inadvertently worn the best conversation starter as Tony kept glancing down at my gams while I grilled him about the evening’s dating scene at the MCA.
He said that he had been attending the art museum’s First Fridays for the past four years and had met several women that had resulted in some great dates. Being a self-professed culture vulture, he enjoyed the art and saw the event more as a dating oasis.
“It's actually good for the soul, not an excruciating ordeal like speed dating and Internet dating.”
We purchased drink tickets and were cocktail-bound when I noticed another one of my guy pals chatting with two statuesque blondes at the hors d’ouevres bar. I tried tip-toeing passed but accidentally hit his beer arm, and foam went flying. He didn’t seem to mind when the blondes disappeared as I publicly drycleaned his power suit. Did I interrupt anything, I murmured as we stood in line for a round of Heinekins. He laughed and confessed the girls were just friends and that he was in a relationship, albeit solo that evening.
Sipping and nibbling mini beef sliders to the rock-dropping beats of The Hood Internet, we singled in on the evening’s hot attractions including “The Artist’s Studio Inside-Out” exhibition, an iMac digital dating bar, and a photo booth.
As I glanced around at my fellow revelers, I realized that finding true love wasn’t an art. In fact, it wasn’t even paint-by-numbers. But if love is in the eye of the beholder, then wearing a sexy pair of man-hunting boots certainly helps.
Purchase tickets by calling the MCA Box Office at 312.397.4010 or online at www.mcachicago.org. $8 members, $11 general advance tickets.
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Sally Shorr is a freelance publicist and blogger in Chicago.
Comments (2)
OLVUS Posted on 13:18, Feb 25th 2011
Well written piece.
PILARA Posted on 14:15, Jun 30th 2010
Well written piece. Although for me I positively HATED 1st Fridays at MCA. It was the Taste of Chicago for singles. You had to stand in a long line just for drink tickets. Too crowded, terrible music and the crowd entirely too young. What I'd like to see in Chicago is a sophisticated way to target a diverse ethnic group of men in an intimate setting in their late 30s thru early 50s who are looking for a long term commitment that I don't have to shout at to hear me in a sea of Gap Kids. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the art work.