91�ֿ�

When Mary and I arrived on the evening of July 17, 2025, the 91�ֿ� Museum’s grand setting—Rockwell Hall—stood like a stone fortress of Beaux-Arts elegance. 

Its deep limestone façade and carved classical details glowed in the golden hour light, echoing the history and creativity within. Once a library, Rockwell Hall now serves as the museum’s home—a space where the past converses gracefully with the present. That night, more than 250 guests gathered in its soaring atrium, a vast chamber of marble and light, warmed by music, conversation, and anticipation.

A Dazzling Showcase

Inside, the “Sparkle: The Style and Jewelry of Aileen Mehle” exhibition shimmered with timeless beauty. Though primarily a jewelry show, it featured a stunning array of evening gowns—each more breathtaking than the last. Flowing silks, sculpted satins, and dreamy chiffons—these garments told stories of sophistication and social brilliance. The jewelry itself was bold and unforgettable: diamond-encrusted brooches, cascading earrings, bangles like constellations frozen in gold. Each case glowed like a portal to a luminous past.

These were not just accessories, but statements of identity, elegance, and self-expression—Aileen Mehle’s signature style, now preserved and shared in radiant glory. The displays wrapped visitors in the spirit of glamour, elevating the room’s energy to something rare and enchanting.

The Joyous Celebration

The opening reception—what we now call the Joyous Celebration—was truly that: a jubilant gathering of beauty, generosity, and shared wonder. We toasted not just to fashion and sparkle, but to the woman behind the collection. Aileen Mehle’s gift to the museum—a legacy of personal expression and social commentary—continues to educate, inspire, and uplift. Her style was both public and deeply personal, and the exhibition radiates with that duality.

Throughout the evening, a palpable sense of gratitude filled the space. That spirit was elevated by the outstanding work of Museum Director Sarah Spinner Liska and her exceptional team. Their meticulous care, vision, and curatorial excellence brought the exhibition to life in every detail. From the graceful layout to the pacing of the narrative, it was clear that this was a labor of both love and professionalism. Other 91�ֿ� officials were present as well, adding their support and presence to the celebration, reflecting how important this moment was not only for the museum but for the broader academic and artistic community.

Encounters That Glimmer

Mary and I delighted in being with our friends from Chagrin Falls—Tom and Mirta Prior and Jan Jones. Together, we moved from display to display, pointing, laughing, admiring, sharing thoughts and memories sparked by the dazzling beauty before us. Mirta and Mary, with their eyes for detail, found joy in the subtleties of fabric and stone. Jan brought her own warm curiosity, especially as she stood before a velvet gown paired with a necklace that sparkled like starlight.

We met Mary Ann Marazzi, an Egyptologist whose quiet grace and luminous insights added depth to the evening. With her was Matthew Adamson, who directs operations at the Maltz Museum in Beachwood. In just a few minutes, our conversation soared across centuries and continents—from ancient Egyptian uses of lapis and gold to the modern legacy of Mehle’s collection. Mary Ann drew connections between adornment and identity in ways that gave the jewelry before us new meaning. Matthew added reflections from the museum world, underscoring how generosity like Mehle’s reshapes cultural spaces.

Later in the evening, I found myself deep in conversation with a young student bartender. He was studying neuroscience at 91�ֿ�—a surprising and delightful twist amid an artful evening. We spoke of synapses and sparkle, of brain chemistry and creativity. His curiosity was contagious, and his spirit reminded me that beauty and science share a home in the human need to understand and express.

The Atmosphere of Wonder

Rockwell Hall’s grand atrium glowed with movement and life. High above us, arched windows filtered fading sunlight onto soft marble floors. Voices overlapped, champagne glasses clinked, and clusters of strangers became friends beneath the hush of old stone and the joy of new discovery. The gowns and jewels, frozen in glass yet alive with memory, pulled everyone inward—into reflection, into admiration, into stories imagined and real.

Mary and I stopped before a gown in pale silver silk, draped with a matching collar of polished crystal and pearl. It shimmered like moonlight and mist. We stood quietly, taking it in, then turned to share a knowing look with Tom and Mirta—each of us moved, not just by the object, but by what it evoked.

The music of voices filled the space—an ensemble of admiration, awe, and glimmer. There was laughter, too, and reverent silence, and that special kind of delight that only art can conjure when it’s done with heart.

A Legacy That Lives

At the center of it all stood the story of Aileen Mehle’s gift—not just of objects, but of herself. The exhibition celebrates a woman who gave her life to style and storytelling, and who, in passing on her most personal treasures, gave us a window into that life. The museum, through this offering, gains a sparkling tool of education and engagement. And we, the visitors, become part of that ongoing legacy—a chain of inspiration that stretches forward, glowing with possibility.

As the Evening Slipped Into Night

As twilight deepened outside Rockwell Hall, the stone walls stood silent once again, now holding within them the memory of the Joyous Celebration. Mary and I said our goodbyes to new friends and old—Tom, Mirta, Jan, Mary Ann, Matthew, and the young neuroscientist whose name I never caught but whose spirit lingers.

We walked out beneath the arching portico, past columns softened by moonlight. There was a hush in the air—but not the kind of silence that follows an ending. Rather, it was the hush that follows a symphony’s final note—the kind that carries echo and promise, the sound of Glimmer still resonating in the heart.

That night, the museum became more than a building. It was a sanctuary of beauty, a vessel of memory, and a celebration of generosity. Sparkle lit every corner. And we were grateful to be among those who saw it shine.