Luke Swank was ready for his close-up, his second 15 minutes. Posthumously, that is, since the Johnstown native’s photographs were first shown at the Museum of Modern Art in 1932, just two years after he picked up a camera at age 40. We were seduced by Luke Swank: Modernist Photographer at the Carnegie Museum of Art … a powerful, gritty journey past Johnstown’s steel industry to Pittsburgh’s boom town of the 1930s. He turned his camera on our sooty neighborhoods, Amish children, and his images of circus clowns are sheer poetry. The exhibit is an exploration of time, memory and Swank’s vision that guest curator Dr. Howard Bossen of Michigan’s Kresge Art Museum honored. And everyone’s calling it one of the best exhibit in ages. Picture this. Like the luminous show, Friday’s Founder-Patrons Day soiree, staged by the Women’s Committee and chaired by Bev Elliott and Maria Burgwin (with Maury ), was black and white and wow all over. At cocktails, the Scaife Foyer was a magnet and mecca for the beautiful and the beautifully dressed. Glamour was the dress code and the ladies obliged in mostly long, black and bling. They were a vision as they floated through the serene galleries as the first to see the show. It’s so sweet to see the old guard, the black-ties and the cultural cognescenti having a good time. Because they don’t make movies like that anymore. Zooming to the divine Art Deco ambience in the Hall of Architecture, tables covered long in white had sheer black-striped overlays that were centered by lavish bouquets of white roses and orchids in silver containers that were lit by ivory candles with pierced-silver shades. Parkhurst’s menu deliciously smacked of the 30’s and, gotcha, a Prohibition-era Bloody Mary came with a tray of vodka shooters. Need I tell you that none of the 250 guests passed on the chocolate and espresso panacotta served in a martini glass that was playfully garnished with a chocolate 35mm streamer• I thought not. If a party is only as transcendent as its guest list, check out these notables: Luke Swank’s granddaughter, Grace Swank-Davis; CMA chair Marcia Gumberg and Stanley; renowned pixters Clyde Hare and Aaronel deRoy Gruber with Irv; Tom Murphy and WC prexy Gail in black with a feathery shrug; Jean and Brooks Robinson; Elsie and Henry Hillman; Teri and Damian Soffer; Bill Bodine; Ginny and Dick Simmons; Carnegie CEO David Hillenbrand and Georgianna; Ann McGuinn; Richard Armstrong; Nanette and Ira Gordon; Jeff Broadhurst; Karen and Charlie Muse; Judy and Ron Davenport; Bill Boyd; Jane Arkus; Juliette Grauer wearing a fab white evening suit; Debbie and Sam Berkovitz; Janet and Bill Hunt; Joanie and Sam Kamin; and Vange and Ni ck Beldecos. Also lighting up the galleries were Lea Simonds and Harley Trice; Nancy and Bruce McGough; Jean and Hax McCullough; Sally Levin; Ann and Paul Bridges; Cecile and Eric Springer; Barbara Rackoff; Susan and Tom Schmidt; Pam Bryan; Annie and Dick Rivers; Janice and J im Colker; Rita Gould and Alex Speyer; Karen and Ed Linder; Caryn Rubinoff and Craig Dunham; Sally and Ned Randall; Sybil and Pete Veeder; Kathy and Dr. Len Stept; Sally Levin; Janie and Harry Thompson; Cynthia Carrow and Jim Kyper; Jane Haskell; Dolly and Curt Ellenberg; Lu and Syl Damianos; John Rothermel and Katie in a knockout red gown; Jo-Ann and Ned Churchill; Nancy and Woody Ostrow ; Dr. Carolyn Ellis and Charlie Masterson; and Gisela and Konrad Weis. At 8:30 on the dot, some 70 young-at-arters infused the après-dinner gallery hop. In the Mood pumped up the amps for dancing in the Scaife Foyer that doubled as a speakeasy and guests partied on.

Czar Struck

Come November, the ladies who lunch go shopping. Pair a treasure trove of Faberge’s magnificent Imperial Eggs and collection of egg-cessories (tee hee) bearing the crest of the Romanov dynasty with a fall fashion show for 180 damsels who had more than canapes on their mind, and you have The Twenty-Five Club ‘s chi-chi luncheon at the Duquesne Club. An aura of magic surrounds the name of Carl Faberge, court jeweler to the czars, whose fantastical Easter eggs and enameled baubles are even more avidly sought after today than they were in pre-Bolshevik Russia. Which explains Friday’s flurry of egg-citement (I can’t help myself) as Mme. Tatiana Faberge , 73, did a slide-show-and-tell of her great-grandfather’s artistry that’s reproduced in a stunning collection available here at Louis Anthony Jewelers. The fashion sashay by Linda Bucci ‘s boutique (formerly Ruth Young) put models and members in fabulous frocks that were the most wearable of the season. And a portion of every sale that day supports research for the most fragile newborns in neonatal intensive care at Magee-Womens Hospital, the beneficiary of 25 Club’s generosity for 66 years. Fashion forwards included benefit chairs Bobbi Aiello and Karen Linder; 25C prexy Carol Massaro; jewelers Veronica and Lou Guarino; Susan Fitzsimmons; Terri Hastings; Sue Zitelli; Barb Mendlowitz; Peggy Snavely; Nadine Bognar; Katherine Freyvogel; Kitty Gleason; Julie Uram wearing a silk ensemble woven with Faberge eggs; Pat Lewis; Anna Dunlap; Helena Pietragallo; Dr. Catherine Henderson; Ellen Gononski; Frances Kane; Joan Apt; Mary Zubrow; Pat Siger; Jackie Capretto; Kathe Patrinos; Linda Cost; Judy Linaburg; Laura Kronk; Catherine Loevner; Beverly Harlich; Brigette Pavlik; Rita Randall; Wallis Katz; Rona Dane; Dani Greco; Leslie Sargent; Dottie Florence; Lynn Bainbridge; Diana Bills; Donna Southard; and Debbi Linhart. All save Dee Bold, the 25C’s mainstay, who was hospitalized that morning after a fall in her home. It wasn’t the same without you, dee-va … so do heal quickly.

A League Above

More than 40 years after the Rev. Martin Luther King’s stirring speech at the Lincoln Memorial, the dream lived on during Friday’s Urban League of Pittsburgh Ronald H. Brown Leadership Banquet . Now in its 10th year, the soiree attracted 500 guests to the Westin Convention Center ballroom to honor organizations and individuals who advance the cause of equality. Always an advocate for the region’s African-American community, the ULP provides essential services, support and inspiration through the leadership of chapter prez Esther Bush, who graciously welcomed a diverse gathering to this celebration named after the first black man to serve as the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. Among those applauding the achievements of honorees such as Irvin Williams and others were Gov. Ed Rendell ; board chair Victor Roque with wife Marcia and daughter Nicole ; Judi and Ron Owen; Evan Frazier ; past ULP presidents Arthur Edmunds and Leon Hayes ; Lucy and Dr. Ian Rawson ; Ruthie King ; Dawn and Milton Raiford ; Bishop Donald Clay ; emcee Harold Hayes ; Lois and Lester Cain ; Pam Golden ; Margaret and Charles Washington; Ellen and Dr. Loren Roth; Carey and Ammar Alnajjar; and Libra and Brian Johnson — John Altdorfer

Double Jeopardy

Sleuths followed the clues to CSI: Camp Scene Investigation , Thursday’s campy spine-tingler that had staked out the Hilton ballroom as a crime lab with body outlines, yellow police tape and whirling squad car lights. Variety the Children’s Charity raised the bail for fun at its 78th anniversary waltz to fund Camp Variety, its flagship project for local kids with disabilities. Why the postmortem props, you ask• All evidence pointed to Jeffery Deaver, the eve’s honoree whose best-seller, “The Bone Collector,” was made into a thriller starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie as forensic experts. The Watson Institute’s Education Center in Sewickley was also singled out with the John Harris Award. Lab beakers and mounted X-rays sprouting a single calla lily became centerpieces atop black-napped tables, while servers in white lab coats dished the dine. Is that a hoot or what• An eyewitness fingered Bonnie Walker Chirigos for masterminding (and donating!) the stunning special effects. Then up jumped Gary Racan and his swinging Studio E band to raise the bar on rock ‘n roll. Among the usual suspects, we spotted chairs Joyce and Bill Bender with Carla and Greg Babe; emcee Jon Burnett; Ann Mary and Don Oylear; Regina and Wayne Desbrow; Cherry and Ray White; Variety’s chief barker Dr. Ken Melani, prexy Chris Kobus with Tom and director Celia Hindes with Stan; Ilene and J im Ross; Ricco Brusco; Lee Hassinger; Helen Bilak and Paul Henry; Sarah Wilson; Cynthia McCormick and Lois Pruitt; Candice and Bob Mill; Tim Heffner; Audia and Bill Otto; Jamie Watts; Mary Brougher; and Paula Ballog.

Welcome ABOARD

If luck be a lady, she smiled generously on Saturday’s Gala & Casino Nite at the Heinz Field East Lounge as 260 black ties bet the ranch to aid ABOARD and CeFAR, a pair of area organizations that reach out to families with autistic children. As cases of autism increase at an alarming rate, ABOARD (that’s the Advisory Board on Autism and Related Diseases) provides advice and services to families who often feel hopeless and alone in their struggles against this increasingly common affliction. Meanwhile, Pitt’s CeFAR (the Center for Autism Research) is one of only 10 such university-based centers in the U.S. recognized by the National Institutes of Health for its outstanding achievements. Testing their luck at the gaming tables were tandem co-chairs Dorothy and Dan Brailer with Lori and Dave McMaster ; CeFAR director Dr. Nancy Minshew with Crady Swisher ; ABOARD CEO Howard Carpenter ; keynoter state senator Jane Orrie ; Joan and Vann Ransom ; Marilyn and Reid Hoyson ; Joanie and Sam Kamin ; Beth and Ken Rom ; Shelly Tolo ; and Betsy Wotherspoon . — J. A.

Talent Scouts

The Duquesne University Women’s Advisory Board knows it takes money to train budding musicians and even greater sums to hone the talents of those with the greatest promise. For more than 50 years, these damsels have awarded a major gift to a senior in DU’s Mary Pappert School of Music. At their elegant annual Scholarship Dinner Dance in the Duquesne Club on Saturday, 140 black-ties were thrilled by the amazing harpistry of Rachel Joseph, this year’s awardee. Faces in the crowd: beautiful Jan Engelberg (with Howard ) who chaired the do; WAB prexy Carol Murphy; Janet and David Pappert; DU prez Dr. Charles Dougherty and Judge Sandra; Rita and Lucien Caste; Maureen O’Brien; Terri and Don Hastings; Kathleen and John Connelly; DU Music School dean Dr. Edward Kocher with Kamie Schoonhoven; Mary and Jim O’Day; and Ann and Dr. George Magovern.

Millie Awards

Although a water main break meant moving it from Henry Hoffstot’s glorious Gilded Age manse to the nearby Rodef Shalom ballroom, last Sunday’s gala missed nary a note. More than 100 fans of the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh, founded by Metropolitan Opera diva Mildred Miller Posvar (friends call her Millie), gathered for the 2005 Millie Awards which she grandly presented to WQED-FM’s Jim Cunningham of “Sleepers Awake” and mid-day host Anna Singer. With the name Singer, Anna was destined to sing opera and so she has the world over. Closer to home, she sang with the Pittsburgh Opera and, this past summer, starred in the OTP production of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle. Accompanied by hubby Don Kortlandt on the trumpet, she thrilled the crowd with high notes from Gershwin’s “Porgy and Bess.” Tenor Daniel Snyder and soprano Sara Petrocelli added to the music of the night with popular arias. Deb Acklin and Bryan Seyvar were singing their praises. As were Kathy and Dr. George White; Phyliss Sidwell; OTP’s Jonathan Eaton as emcee; Helen Knox; Carole and Dan Kamin; Bill Genge; Peggy Williams; Benno Bernt; Gunnar Klinga; Susan and Tom McCaffrey; William Knoop; Gissa and Rudy Weingartner; and Phil Hallen.

Kids’ Sake

Oversized Steelers’ jerseys and a Bono-autographed guitar were just a few of the choice items on the block during Saturday’s Pittsburgh Social Venture Partners Auction of Fine Art at the Children’s Museum. The debut PSVP event attracted 150 bidders to benefit six local organizations that reach out to area at-risk youngsters. Chaired by Andrea Fitting (with Jeff ), auctioneer Chris Purcell persuaded guests to raise their hands, including Kelley and John Denny ; Fran and Jim Abraham ; Lonnie and Craig Silver ; Vicky and Mark Brilmyer ; Kathy Matta ; Nancy and Bill Kleeman ; Susan and Greg Kaminski ; Belinda Yeager and Bernie Carter ; and Patti and Tom Canfield . — J. A. Additional Information:

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