Local women gathered for Girls Night Out at the Everson

Women of all ages stood in a line that went out the Everson Museum of Art’s front doors to get into their first Girls Night Out event on Thursday.

The building slowly began to fill with women looking for a fun night of pampering and shopping. More than 140 guests roamed around the museum during Girls Night Out, according to the Everson.

With admission at $10 for museum members and $15 for non-members, attendees gained access to vendors, chocolate and wine tasting stations and do it yourself stations. The admission benefits the museum, and the vendors will also donate a portion of their sales back to the museum, according to Sarah Massett, assistant director at the Everson.

“Our main goal is to strengthen relationships with people who are already part of the museum and branch out and attract new people who haven’t visited the museum before,” she said. “Not only do we hope they have a ton of fun at Girls Night Out, but we hope they take in the new exhibitions, experience the Everson, and hopefully create a relationship that’ll make someone want to come back again and again.”

The night was filled with sweet treats, wine, live music by Melissa Sieling, DIY stations where guests could make a lavender foaming facial cleanser as well as a stamped scarf, chair massages, skin analyses, mini makeovers, docent-led tours, and shopping.

The participating vendors included: A New You Health Spa, Amy Davison Designs, BodyWorks Massage, Café at 407, Everson Museum Shop, Greenwood Winery, Lune Chocolat, Park Lane Jewelry, Thirty-One Gifts, Young Living Essential Oils and Younique.

Besides the main entrance and the chocolate and wine tasting, one of the longest lines was for the DIY stamped scarves. “I created the stamps using wood blocks and foam pieces, and doing carvings,” said Kaytlynn Lynch, an intern with the education department at the Everson. “The flower stamps that you see are based upon and inspired by Polly Apfelbaum’s work, one of the three graces that’s on display in the museum right now.”

Attendees brushed fabric dyes onto the hand-carved stamps, then placed them onto white scarves to create a personalized accessory they could wear out the door into the chilly weather.

Off to one side of the room, guests took turns looking into a skin analysis machine. Heather Wing, owner of A New You Health Spa in Baldwinsville, said the machine helps her and her coworkers perform skin analyses for clients. “When a person puts their face into it, they’ll be able to see, at the same time, what we’ll be able to see,” she said.

Wing described the machine as similar to looking into a black light that will tell her more about a client’s skin. She said she’s able to see things such as pigmentation and hydration levels, if someone has acne bacteria, and if there’s dead skin build up.

“It helps us help you to address those issues,” she added.

Katie Beth Schwartz, a recruiter at the American Cancer Society for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, said she recently became an Everson member and looks forward to more events at the museum in the future.“I try to go to as many as I can,” she said. 

Massett said if this Girls Night Out was a “smash hit,” that she would like to host more in the future.

“This was one of the themed social nights that we wanted to try out to attract a fun, female audience.” Massett said.