MAD Paper Ball & the Mott War Gets Uglier

Tonight's MAD Paper Ball is another thing you can do at night to have fun besides the same old-same old club crawl. My job description is nightlife correspondent for BlackBook, so this week I've been offering up some alternatives for those of us who just need a change of scenery. This event is star-studded, and for the price of a cheap bottle of vodka at a B-list table, you can hang out with celebs, see some new and more importantly fresh faces, and help a worthy cause. I caught up with Thomas Onorato, partner in OW! (Onorato Wixom) and asked him a couple of questions about the shindig. Again, this event is tonight -- so call the significant other now or procure yourself an insignificant other and get on it.

What’s tonight all about?
My business partner, Max Wixom ,and I are proud to be on the steering committee for the Museum of Arts and Design’s MAD Paper Ball, which is a young patron’s gala to help raise money for the museum’s education programs—the only hands-on arts education that many New York City public school students ever get. It’s not your grandma’s gala, that’s for sure. Aside from fundraising, the other goal of the Paper Ball is to bring the new generation of artists and patrons into MAD, who in some cases do not even know this amazing institution is accessible to them. Have you seen the permanent jewelry collection? So bananas!

Tonight, MAD is celebrating one year at their new location, with an event hosted by Rose McGowan, Coco Rocha, and Mad Men’s Bryan Batt. It’s in their new home at 2 Columbus Circle, a building that itself is a work of art. There’s a great group of committee members, including people like Fabiola Beracasa, Genevieve Jones, Dror Benshetrit, Adam Dugas, Threeasfour, Zaldy, the Misshapes, Slava Mogutin, Brian Kenny and others ... very cool kids coming uptown. Also, many artists and fashion designers provided unique paper or paper-themed works to raise money for MAD’s programs—from Matthew Williamson to Craig McDean to Rubin Chapelle to Kai Kahune.

What’s the scene going to be like?
We’ve have Paul Sevigny, Harley & Cassie, and Leo Fitzpatrick DJing, and the pieces are installed in the museum by Playground, an art collective founded by steering committee co-chair Julie Ragolia and Zach Gold. The VIP preview begins at 7:30pm; the party hits at 830pm and goes till late.

Event-goers get to be the first to see the new exhibition “Slash: Paper Under the Knife,” which is made up of an amazing group of site specific installations and works in paper. The dance floor is on the second floor, right next to Madeline Albright’s pin collection exhibition. She’s one of my heroes with all these really cool brooches ... My favorite is the Cartier leopard, so crazy town. They make you feel like you should have on shoulder pads and be running the UN.

The reason we got involved is that we love the Museum of Arts and Design, and the event isn’t geared to the old guard, but the young artists and the downtown crowd. I mean, the tickets are only $150, which is unheard of in New York charity events. Mostly tax-deductible too ... just saying. I predict boozy kooky fun, especially when Paul Sevigny goes on at 10:30pm, and maybe vogueing! It’s going to be major and all for a good cause!