A Vibrant Celebration of Art, Culture, and Community.
MAY 7, 6PM-8:30PM
Immerse yourself in an evening of art and enchantment featuring Resistance: Cultural and Political Narratives in Mexican Art, including the presentation of our Patron of the Arts Award to Steve Silverstein and Helen DeGroot. Enjoy live Mariachi music, a traditional Mexican dance showcase, and a captivating performance by illusionist Lyn Dillies. Savor themed cocktails along with the fresh, spicy, and savory flavors of México.
PATRON OF THE ARTS RECIPIENTS' BIOS
Helen DeGroot
Helen DeGroot was born in San Francisco and raised in New York City. The proud mother of five children and grandmother to 13 grandchildren, she has been involved in the arts in various capacities throughout her life. In the 1960’s she worked with an Interracial theater in Cambridge, MA. She produced, with other faculty wives, theatre events at the University of Chicago and produced numerous plays with her late husband in their Nameless Players play-reading group. Always an avid museum devotee, Helen has visited museums around the world. Additionally, Helen is a strong advocate for the symphony, with years-long memberships in both Chicago and New Bedford Symphony’s.
A painter herself, Helen, has turned her focus to "helping put the New Bedford Art Museum on the map". Recently, she played a key role in curating the popular Homecoming exhibit at the Museum, which showcased unique pieces from local collectors that were being displayed to the public for the first time.
Helen is delighted to receive the Patron of the Arts award from the New Bedford Art Museum and hopes her enthusiasm will encourage others to support this wonderful organization.
Stephen Silverstein
Steve received an MBA from New York University and graduated with a BBA in accounting from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
In 1981 Steve began his career as a CPA with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co., now KPMG. In 1993 Steve returned home to Dartmouth, MA, to lead his family’s retail clothing company, adding a decade of longevity to the firm’s four-generation 100-year history before transitioning to the restaurant business.
Steve Founded Not Your Average Joe’s in 1994 and over his 24 years as CEO he grew the Company to a nearly $100 million enterprise, operating 30 restaurants in 6 states serving 4.5 million guests a year.
Steve founded Not Your Average Joe’s after recognizing a shortage of quality restaurants with reasonable prices in the suburbs. He launched the brand predicated on a dynamic trifecta: made-from-scratch dishes, affordable pricing and fantastic hospitality. Not Your Average Joe’s won Nation’s Restaurant Hot Concept Award.
In March 2018 Steve retired from Not Your Average Joe’s, purchasing from the Company the original Dartmouth restaurant, this was the start of Servedwell Hospitality. Steve is the sole owner of Servedwell Hospitality which today comprises 10 restaurants in Massachusetts, employs a team of nearly 1,000 and achieves revenues of $50 million. Steve’s son William, a Cornell Hotel School graduate and an Eleven Madison Park manager now works with Steve, joining him in pursuit of continuing the Silversteins’ 120 year commitment to service excellence in Southeastern, MA.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
LEAD SPONSOR
MOLLY & JEFF GOODMAN
IRENE & NORMAN BUCK
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