Stanlee Gatti
Encyclopedia
Stanley Ray Gatti San Francisco's "resident creative genius," is among the first Americans to practice event design
as visual art, and one of the best-known event planners in the country.
. His father Larry, a former coal miner born in Arpino
, Italy
(birthplace of Cicero
), became a master craftsman
in the United States, and built the family house himself. His mother Ann was born in Montenegro
, Serbia
, and was a socially-active housewife.
An inquisitive child, Gatti would often explore his father's workshop
. He roamed the grounds surrounding his home, collecting soil to mix in mud pots for paint. He learned piano, saxophone, and drums, and was interested in local Native American
music and culture. He studied dance
in elementary school, and ran a flower shop by age ten.
Gatti studied music
, physical education
and art
at the University of Northern Colorado
in the 1970s, then architecture
and art history
at the University of Oregon
. After college he briefly returned home to coordinate events
at the local country club
, and worked as a department store window dresser
. He worked at a plant store in Aspen,Colorado for several months then, inspired by a dream and a chance
meeting with a group of drifters
, he moved to San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood
. He began as a florist at the St. Francis Hotel
hotel in 1978, advancing quickly to Hospitality
Manager, a room service
post created for him.
planning a 75th anniversary opening gala for the San Francisco Symphony
. In a hurry, he bought a flower-patterned bedsheet
from Macy's
across the street, borrowed a tablecloth
and napkins from housekeeping
, and arranged some sweet peas on top. One of the women, California Culinary Academy
founder Danielle Carlisle, reportedly exclaimed "Who did this?"
Impressed, the women hired him to design the entire event.
s who wanted to hire him for themselves. Within three months he left the hotel to start his own design firm, Stanlee R. Gatti Designs.
Success came quickly. A "great sniffer of power" and friend to "both beauty and bum, bastard and banker," he soon jointed the ranks of San Francisco's social elite, not only creating events but attending, hosting, throwing parties and having parties thrown for him. According to his mother, "He never meets a stranger." In 1998 a columnist deemed him one of the three most powerful people in San Francisco.
Others compare him to New York
tastemaker Ward McAllister
. A well-known blog ran an occasional "Stanlee Gatti count" to list mentions in San Francisco's gossip columns.
In 1996 Mayor Willie Brown
, by then a personal friend, appointed Gatti President of the San Francisco Arts Commission
, an important agency that manages a set aside of two percent of all city spending on public works. Gatti used the position to push the boundaries of San Francisco's famously conservative taste in public art. His best-received initiatives were installations by Vito Acconci
, Ned Kahn
, Robert Arneson
, and Bill Viola
. Gatti brought ten Keith Haring
sculptures to San Francisco, one of which remains at the Moscone Center
. However, Gatti generated as much controversy as admiration. He jokingly proposed to mount a 30-foot Louise Bourgeois
spider atop San Francisco City Hall
. A more serious proposal to install a giant peace symbol
by Tony Labat in Golden Gate Park
ran afoul of neighborhood activists and was subsequently rejected by the Commission. In 1999, an already-approved commission for Buster Simpson to create a giant naked foot for the end of Market Street was criticized by the public, mocked by the head San Francisco Chronicle
art critic, and ultimately de-funded by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
. Gatti resigned from the Commission unexpectedly in 2004.
. He was best man at the wedding of former mayor Gavin Newsom
to his former wife Kimberly Guilfoyle
, and designed his subsequent wedding to Jennifer Siebel
. Other high-profile friends, living and deceased, include David Blaine
, Robin Williams
, Elton John
, Jason Lewis, Danielle Steel
, Peter Magowan
, Joni Mitchell
, Grace Slick
(who introduced him to psychic
Carol Simone), Jo Schuman and Steve Silver, Ann and Gordon Getty
, and Herb Caen
.
An often anonymous philanthropist
, Gatti quietly funded the Rigo 23
mural "Sky/Ground" on San Francisco's St. Regis Museum Tower
, contributed $50,000 towards the Haring installations, and intended to secretly pay for the Golden Gate Park peace symbol. Gatti is reportedly an insomnia
c and workaholic
, who stays awake long into the night and drinksfive twelve espresso
s every morning. A former chain smoker of American Spirit
cigarettes, he carries his ashes away because he dislikes dirty ash trays. Although he works events that serve meat, he himself is a vegetarian.
.
he is "one of the most venerated event designers in the country." The creative process is spontaneous and focuses heavily on color. He follows color trends in fashion (his favorite is green), but in event design, he explains, "I do not know what the trends are because I set the trends." A florist by background, he usually designs elaborate floral displays for events, yet sometimes excludes them entirely. "Everyone expects flowers, especially from me", he explains. "I don’t ever really want to be pegged into a corner.".
, live fir trees, and cold temperature) to celebrate the turn-over of San Francisco's Presidio
to the National Park Service
, or a cubist theme to honor a biographer of Pablo Picasso
.
Working without project proposals or detailed budgets out of three warehouses in San Francisco, Gatti and his staff of 55 employees produce ten events per week. Half are weddings. Projects range from single-table floral designs to large charity events for thousands of guests. Gatti has been known to run large charity events at a loss, personally funding shortfalls, changes and fixes when important to an event's success.
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name="fuller">
,
San Francisco Ballet
, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
, de Young Museum, San Francisco Art Institute
, the San Francisco Zoo
, Diane Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi
, Charles Schwab
, Peter Magowan
, and Dede Wilsey
.
Event planning
Event planning is the process of planning a festival, ceremony, competition, party, or convention. Event planning includes budgeting, establishing dates and alternate dates, selecting and reserving the event site, acquiring permits, and coordinating transportation and parking...
as visual art, and one of the best-known event planners in the country.
Origins
Gatti is the second youngest of five children born to immigrant parents in the small mining town of Raton, New MexicoRaton, New Mexico
Raton is a city in Colfax County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 7,282 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Colfax County. The city is located just south of Raton Pass.-Name:...
. His father Larry, a former coal miner born in Arpino
Arpino
Arpino is a comune in the province of Frosinone in the region of Latium in central Italy. Its Roman name was Arpinum.-History:...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(birthplace of Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
), became a master craftsman
Master craftsman
A master craftsman or master tradesman was a member of a guild. In the European guild system, only masters were allowed to be members of the guild....
in the United States, and built the family house himself. His mother Ann was born in Montenegro
Montenegro
Montenegro Montenegrin: Crna Gora Црна Гора , meaning "Black Mountain") is a country located in Southeastern Europe. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea to the south-west and is bordered by Croatia to the west, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the northwest, Serbia to the northeast and Albania to the...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, and was a socially-active housewife.
An inquisitive child, Gatti would often explore his father's workshop
Workshop
A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...
. He roamed the grounds surrounding his home, collecting soil to mix in mud pots for paint. He learned piano, saxophone, and drums, and was interested in local Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
music and culture. He studied dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
in elementary school, and ran a flower shop by age ten.
Gatti studied music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
, physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
and art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
at the University of Northern Colorado
University of Northern Colorado
-Organization:The University of Northern Colorado offers 100 undergraduate programs and more than 100 graduate programs. The university has a satellite campus in Denver, Colorado...
in the 1970s, then architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
and art history
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
at the University of Oregon
University of Oregon
-Colleges and schools:The University of Oregon is organized into eight schools and colleges—six professional schools and colleges, an Arts and Sciences College and an Honors College.- School of Architecture and Allied Arts :...
. After college he briefly returned home to coordinate events
at the local country club
Country club
A country club is a private club, often with a closed membership, that typically offers a variety of recreational sports facilities and is located in city outskirts or rural areas. Activities may include, for example, any of golf, tennis, swimming or polo...
, and worked as a department store window dresser
Window dresser
Window dressers arrange displays of goods in shop windows or within a shop itself. They may work for design companies contracted to work for clients or for department stores, independent retailers, airport or hotel shops....
. He worked at a plant store in Aspen,Colorado for several months then, inspired by a dream and a chance
meeting with a group of drifters
Hobo
A hobo is a term which is often applied to a migratory worker or homeless vagabond, often penniless. The term originated in the Western—probably Northwestern—United States during the last decade of the 19th century. Unlike 'tramps', who work only when they are forced to, and 'bums', who do not...
, he moved to San Francisco's Tenderloin neighborhood
Tenderloin, San Francisco, California
The Tenderloin is a neighborhood in downtown San Francisco, California, in the flatlands on the southern slope of Nob Hill, nestled between the Union Square shopping district to the northeast and the Civic Center office district to the southwest...
. He began as a florist at the St. Francis Hotel
St. Francis Hotel
The Westin St. Francis is a historic luxury hotel located on Powell and Geary Streets on Union Square in San Francisco, California. The two twelve-story south wings of the hotel were built just before the San Francisco Earthquake, in 1904, and the double-width north wing was completed in 1913,...
hotel in 1978, advancing quickly to Hospitality
Hospitality
Hospitality is the relationship between guest and host, or the act or practice of being hospitable. Specifically, this includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers, resorts, membership clubs, conventions, attractions, special events, and other services for travelers...
Manager, a room service
Room service
Room service is an accommodation available at many hotels, whose employees bring food or other items to guests in their rooms.Room service may also refer to:- Music :...
post created for him.
Politics and society in San Francisco
In 1985 Gatti's boss at the St. Francis asked him to set up a table for group of self-described ladies who lunchLadies who lunch
Ladies who lunch is a phrase to describe slim, well-off, old-monied, well-dressed women who meet for social luncheons, usually during the working week. Typically, the women involved are married and non-working. Normally the lunch is in a high-class restaurant, but could also take place in a...
planning a 75th anniversary opening gala for the San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
. In a hurry, he bought a flower-patterned bedsheet
Bedsheet
The bedsheet format was the size of many magazines published in the United States in the first third of the 20th century. Magazines in bedsheet format were roughly the size of Life but with square spines...
from Macy's
Macy's West
Macy's West was a longtime division of Macy's, Inc. , representing one of the New York-based department store chain's earliest notable acquisitions and westward expansions...
across the street, borrowed a tablecloth
Tablecloth
A tablecloth is a cloth used to cover a table. Some are mainly ornamental coverings, which may also help protect the table from scratches and stains. Other tablecloths are designed to be spread on a dining table before laying out tableware and food....
and napkins from housekeeping
Housekeeping
Housekeeping is the act of cleaning the rooms and furnishings of a home. It is one of the many chores included in the term housework. Housecleaning includes activities such as disposing of rubbish, cleaning dirty surfaces, dusting and vacuuming. It may also involve some outdoor chores, such as...
, and arranged some sweet peas on top. One of the women, California Culinary Academy
California Culinary Academy
The California Culinary Academy is an affiliate of Le Cordon Bleu, and is located in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1977, the academy has trained more than 15,000 people for restaurant careers through its 30-week baking and pastry chef program and 16-month culinary arts degree program...
founder Danielle Carlisle, reportedly exclaimed "Who did this?"
Impressed, the women hired him to design the entire event.
Socialite
A socialite is a person who participates in social activities and spends a significant amount of time entertaining and being entertained at fashionable upper-class events....
s who wanted to hire him for themselves. Within three months he left the hotel to start his own design firm, Stanlee R. Gatti Designs.
Success came quickly. A "great sniffer of power" and friend to "both beauty and bum, bastard and banker," he soon jointed the ranks of San Francisco's social elite, not only creating events but attending, hosting, throwing parties and having parties thrown for him. According to his mother, "He never meets a stranger." In 1998 a columnist deemed him one of the three most powerful people in San Francisco.
Others compare him to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
tastemaker Ward McAllister
Ward McAllister
Samuel Ward McAllister was the self-appointed arbiter of New York society from the 1860s to the early 1890s.-Life and career:...
. A well-known blog ran an occasional "Stanlee Gatti count" to list mentions in San Francisco's gossip columns.
In 1996 Mayor Willie Brown
Willie Brown (politician)
Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served over 30 years in the California State Assembly, spending 15 years as its Speaker, and afterward served as the 41st mayor of San Francisco, the first African American to do so...
, by then a personal friend, appointed Gatti President of the San Francisco Arts Commission
San Francisco Arts Commission
The San Francisco Arts Commission is the official San Francisco County, USA arts council.The San Francisco Arts Commission It was established in 1932 and runs under the California state arts council, the California Arts Council . The commission is appointed by the major...
, an important agency that manages a set aside of two percent of all city spending on public works. Gatti used the position to push the boundaries of San Francisco's famously conservative taste in public art. His best-received initiatives were installations by Vito Acconci
Vito Acconci
Vito Hannibal Acconci is a Bronx, New York-born, Brooklyn-based designer, landscape architect, performance and installation artist.-Education:...
, Ned Kahn
Ned Kahn
Ned Kahn is an environmental artist and sculptor, famous in particular for museum exhibits he has built for the Exploratorium in San Francisco...
, Robert Arneson
Robert Arneson
Robert Carston Arneson was an American sculptor and professor of ceramics in the Art department at UC Davis for four decades.- Career :...
, and Bill Viola
Bill Viola
Bill Viola is a contemporary video artist. He is considered a leading figure in the generation of artists whose artistic expression depends upon electronic, sound, and image technology in New Media...
. Gatti brought ten Keith Haring
Keith Haring
Keith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.-Early life:...
sculptures to San Francisco, one of which remains at the Moscone Center
Moscone Center
Moscone Center is the largest convention and exhibition complex in San Francisco, California. It comprises three main halls: Two underground halls underneath Yerba Buena Gardens, known as Moscone North and Moscone South, and a three-level Moscone West exhibition hall across 4th Street...
. However, Gatti generated as much controversy as admiration. He jokingly proposed to mount a 30-foot Louise Bourgeois
Louise Bourgeois
Louise Joséphine Bourgeois , was a renowned French-American artist and sculptor, best known for her contributions to both modern and contemporary art, and for her spider structures, titled Maman, which resulted in her being nicknamed the Spiderwoman...
spider atop San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall, re-opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is the fifth largest in the world...
. A more serious proposal to install a giant peace symbol
Peace symbol
A number of peace symbols have been used in various cultures and contexts, one of the most ancient being the olive branch. The dove and olive branch was used by early Christians and was later adopted as a secular symbol. It was popularised by Pablo Picasso in 1949 and became widely used in the...
by Tony Labat in Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park
Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. Configured as a rectangle, it is similar in shape but 20% larger than Central Park in New York, to which it is often compared. It is over three miles long east to west, and about half a...
ran afoul of neighborhood activists and was subsequently rejected by the Commission. In 1999, an already-approved commission for Buster Simpson to create a giant naked foot for the end of Market Street was criticized by the public, mocked by the head San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
art critic, and ultimately de-funded by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco, California, United States.-Government and politics:...
. Gatti resigned from the Commission unexpectedly in 2004.
Personal life
Gatti has cultivated close friendships with people from all walks of life, but especially the women of San Francisco's moneyed social circleSocial circle
Social circles are groups of socially interconnected people. A Social circle is distinguished from a social pyramid in that there are two perspectives that can be used to describe a social circle: the perspective of an individual who is the locus of a particular group of socially interconnected...
. He was best man at the wedding of former mayor Gavin Newsom
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician who is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of California. Previously, he was the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, and was elected in 2003 to succeed Willie Brown, becoming San Francisco's youngest mayor in 100 years. Newsom was re-elected in 2007...
to his former wife Kimberly Guilfoyle
Kimberly Guilfoyle
Kimberly Guilfoyle is an American cable news personality and is currently one of the rotating co-hosts on The Five on Fox News Channel at 5 pm EST , as well as the host of an Internet-only crime-related program for Fox News...
, and designed his subsequent wedding to Jennifer Siebel
Jennifer Siebel
Jennifer Lynn Siebel is an American documentary filmmaker, actress and the wife of former San Francisco Mayor and current Lieutenant Governor of California Gavin Newsom. She is the director, writer and producer of the film Miss Representation, which premiered in the documentary competition at the...
. Other high-profile friends, living and deceased, include David Blaine
David Blaine
David Blaine is an American illusionist and endurance artist. He is best known for his high-profile feats of endurance, and has made his name as a performer of street and close-up magic. He has set and broken several world records...
, Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
, Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, Jason Lewis, Danielle Steel
Danielle Steel
Danielle Fernandes Dominique Schuelein-Steel , better known as Danielle Steel, is an American romantic novelist and author of mainstream dramas....
, Peter Magowan
Peter Magowan
Peter A. Magowan is the former managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants Major League Baseball franchise.-Early life and career:...
, Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
, Grace Slick
Grace Slick
Grace Slick is an American singer and songwriter, who was one of the lead singers of the rock groups The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and Starship, and was a solo artist, for nearly three decades, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s...
(who introduced him to psychic
Psychic
A psychic is a person who professes an ability to perceive information hidden from the normal senses through extrasensory perception , or is said by others to have such abilities. It is also used to describe theatrical performers who use techniques such as prestidigitation, cold reading, and hot...
Carol Simone), Jo Schuman and Steve Silver, Ann and Gordon Getty
Gordon Getty
Gordon Peter Getty was born on December 20, 1934. He is the fourth child of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. His mother, Ann Rork, was his father's third wife. When his father died in 1976, Gordon assumed control of Getty's US$2 billion trust...
, and Herb Caen
Herb Caen
Herbert Eugene Caen was a Pulitzer Prize-winning San Francisco journalistwhose daily column of local goings-on, social and political happenings,...
.
An often anonymous philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
, Gatti quietly funded the Rigo 23
Rigo 23
Rigo 23 , born Ricardo Gouveia, is a Portuguese muralist, painter, and political artist residing in San Francisco, California...
mural "Sky/Ground" on San Francisco's St. Regis Museum Tower
St. Regis Museum Tower
St. Regis Museum Tower is a highrise in the South of Market district of San Francisco, California, adjacent to Yerba Buena Gardens, Moscone Center, PacBell Building and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The 42-storey, tower is bounded by Mission Street, 3rd Streets and is operated by...
, contributed $50,000 towards the Haring installations, and intended to secretly pay for the Golden Gate Park peace symbol. Gatti is reportedly an insomnia
Insomnia
Insomnia is most often defined by an individual's report of sleeping difficulties. While the term is sometimes used in sleep literature to describe a disorder demonstrated by polysomnographic evidence of disturbed sleep, insomnia is often defined as a positive response to either of two questions:...
c and workaholic
Workaholic
A workaholic is a person who is addicted to work.The term generally implies that the person enjoys their work; it can also imply that they simply feel compelled to do it...
, who stays awake long into the night and drinks
Espresso
Espresso is a concentrated beverage brewed by forcing a small amount of nearly boiling water under pressure through finely ground coffee. Espresso is widely known throughout the world....
s every morning. A former chain smoker of American Spirit
Natural American Spirit
Natural American Spirit is a brand of cigarette and tobacco products manufactured in the United States by the Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Company, a wholly owned independent subsidiary of Reynolds American, in turn 42% owned by British American Tobacco...
cigarettes, he carries his ashes away because he dislikes dirty ash trays. Although he works events that serve meat, he himself is a vegetarian.
Twin Peaks, San Francisco, California
The Twin Peaks are two hills with an elevation of about near the geographic center of San Francisco, California. Except for Mount Davidson, they are the highest points in the city.-Location and climate:...
.
Art
Friends and colleagues praise Gatti's "genius" for creative design. He is among few American designers who approach event planning as a visual art form as much as a business service. Along with New York's Robert IsabellRobert Isabell
Bruce Robert Isabell was an American event planner who was behind lavish and innovative events including weddings and funerals of the richest and most famous...
he is "one of the most venerated event designers in the country." The creative process is spontaneous and focuses heavily on color. He follows color trends in fashion (his favorite is green), but in event design, he explains, "I do not know what the trends are because I set the trends." A florist by background, he usually designs elaborate floral displays for events, yet sometimes excludes them entirely. "Everyone expects flowers, especially from me", he explains. "I don’t ever really want to be pegged into a corner.".
Stanlee R. Gatti design
Gatti's company "Stanlee R. Gatti Designs" produces high profile weddings, parties, fundraisers, and other events in San Francisco and throughout the world. Leaving to others details such as transportation, security, and catering, he concentrates on the aesthetic experience. His work involves fabrication and installation of decorations, interior design, tents and other temporary structures, lighting, flowers, costumes, table settings and dressing.Mulch
In agriculture and gardening, is a protective cover placed over the soil to retain moisture, reduce erosion, provide nutrients, and suppress weed growth and seed germination. Mulching in gardens and landscaping mimics the leaf cover that is found on forest floors....
, live fir trees, and cold temperature) to celebrate the turn-over of San Francisco's Presidio
Presidio of San Francisco
The Presidio of San Francisco is a park on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area...
to the National Park Service
National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
, or a cubist theme to honor a biographer of Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
.
Working without project proposals or detailed budgets out of three warehouses in San Francisco, Gatti and his staff of 55 employees produce ten events per week. Half are weddings. Projects range from single-table floral designs to large charity events for thousands of guests. Gatti has been known to run large charity events at a loss, personally funding shortfalls, changes and fixes when important to an event's success.
Solo installations
- Yerba Buena Center for the ArtsYerba Buena Center for the ArtsYerba Buena Center for the Arts is a multi-disiplinary contemporary arts center in San Francisco, California, United States. Located in Yerba Buena Gardens, YBCA features visual art, performance, and film/video that celebrates local, national, and international artists and the Bay Area's diverse...
, "Stanlee's Brain", 2006
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- Conservatory of FlowersConservatory of FlowersThe Conservatory of Flowers is a greenhouse and botanical garden that houses a collection of rare and exotic plants in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California. With construction completed in 1878, it remains the oldest building in the park, and the oldest municipal wooden conservatory remaining...
, "One: An Earth Installation", 2007.
name="one">
Commissioned projects
- City of San FranciscoGovernment of San FranciscoAs the only consolidated city-county in California, the government of the City and County of San Francisco is defined by the , which is similar to the other counties of California and defines several officers and entities....
, approximately 100 events including inaugurationInaugurationAn inauguration is a formal ceremony to mark the beginning of a leader's term of office. An example is the ceremony in which the President of the United States officially takes the oath of office....
of Mayors Willie Brown and Gavin Newsom - San Francisco SymphonySan Francisco SymphonyThe San Francisco Symphony is an orchestra based in San Francisco, California. Since 1980, the orchestra has performed at the Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall. The San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony Chorus are part of the organization...
, various projects including 75th anniversary gala (1987), season openings, and Black and White Ball - Fairmont Hotel, luncheon for Mikhail GorbachevMikhail GorbachevMikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
, 1990 - Giorgio ArmaniGiorgio ArmaniGiorgio Armani is an Italian fashion designer, particularly noted for his menswear. He is known today for his clean, tailored lines. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, and by 2001 was acclaimed as the most successful designer to come out of Italy, with an annual turnover of $1.6 billion and a...
, fashion show, 1997 - Matrix FillmoreThe Matrix (club)The Matrix, a renovated former pizza shop, was a nightclub in San Francisco from 1965 to 1972 and was one of the keys to what eventually became known as the "San Francisco Sound" in rock music...
nightclub, San Francisco, designer and partner, 2002. - InStyle MagazineIn StyleInStyle is a monthly women’s fashion magazine published in the United States by Time Inc. Along with advertising, the magazine offers articles about beauty, fashion, home, entertaining, charitable endeavors and celebrity lifestyles. Launched in 1993 , InStyle currently has a circulation of 1.7...
, Sir Elton John's Oscar partyOscar partyAn Oscar party is any of the various parties, usually held by entertainment-media corporations, immediately following the broadcast of the Academy Awards ceremony. Some sponsors, such as Vanity Fair magazine, are known for holding such a party year after year, and the influence of the sponsor can...
, 2003 and 2004 - Fleur de Lys RestaurantFleur de Lys (restaurant)Fleur de Lys in San Francisco, California, along with its sister restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada, are two of the premier French restaurants in the United States.- History and description :...
, Las Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas, NevadaLas Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, interior design, 2004 - Jack Falstaff Restaurant, San Francisco, California, interior design, 2004
- LucasartsLucasArtsLucasArts Entertainment Company, LLC is an American video game developer and publisher. The company was once famous for its innovative line of graphic adventure games, the critical and commercial success of which peaked in the mid 1990s...
, Letterman Digital Arts CenterLetterman Digital Arts CenterThe Letterman Digital Arts Center , located in the Presidio, San Francisco, is the combined home of Industrial Light & Magic, LucasArts, and Lucasfilm's marketing, online, and licensing units....
grand opening, 2005. - People magazine, Screen Actors GuildScreen Actors GuildThe Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
awards and post-award party, 2004 through 2007. - Charles Koch, birthday dinner, 2005
- Gordon GettyGordon GettyGordon Peter Getty was born on December 20, 1934. He is the fourth child of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty. His mother, Ann Rork, was his father's third wife. When his father died in 1976, Gordon assumed control of Getty's US$2 billion trust...
, birthday party, 2003, 2006 2007, and 2009 - American Conservatory TheaterAmerican Conservatory TheaterAmerican Conservatory Theater is a large non-profit theater company in San Francisco, California, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. A.C.T. was founded in 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Playhouse and Carnegie Tech by theatre and...
, 40th Anniversary event, 2007
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- SFMOMA, Modern Ball, 2007 and other projects
- California College of the ArtsCalifornia College of the ArtsCalifornia College of the Arts , founded in 1907, is known for its broad, interdisciplinary programs in art, design, architecture, and writing. It has two campuses, one in Oakland and one in San Francisco, California, USA...
, Threads Gala, 2007
Weddings
- Danielle Steele and Tom PerkinsTom PerkinsThomas James Perkins is an American businessman, capitalist, and was one of the founders of leading venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.-Biography:...
, 1996 - Susie RussellSusie Tompkins BuellSusie Tompkins Buell is an American entrepreneur and a liberal political donor associated with the Democracy Alliance.-Investor and businesswoman:...
and Mark Buell, 1996 - Summer Tompkins and Brooks Walker, 1997
- George P. ShultzGeorge P. ShultzGeorge Pratt Shultz is an American economist, statesman, and businessman. He served as the United States Secretary of Labor from 1969 to 1970, as the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1972 to 1974, and as the U.S. Secretary of State from 1982 to 1989...
and Charlotte MailliardCharlotte MailliardCharlotte Smith Mailliard Swig Shultz is an American heiress and socialite. She is the Chief of Protocol for the state of California, and the former Chief of Protocol and Director of Special Events for the City and County of San Francisco. She is the wife of former United States Secretary of State...
, 1997 - Arista RecordsArista RecordsArista was an American record label. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Music Entertainment and operated under the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 1974 by Clive Davis, who formerly worked for CBS Records...
, 25th Anniversary gala, 1999 - Lara HedbergLara Hedberg DeamLara Hedberg Deam is the founder of architecture and design magazine Dwell and current chair of the Dwell, LLC board. Hedberg was raised in Janesville, Wisconsin and is the daughter of Don and Gerry Hedberg, founders of the company, Lab Safety Supply. After her family sold the company, Hedberg...
and Christopher Deam, 2001
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- Christy TurlingtonChristy TurlingtonChristy Turlington Burns is an American model best known for representing Calvin Klein from 1987 to 2007. She has worked on dozens of modeling contracts with companies including Maybelline Cosmetics and Versace. Turlington starred in her fashion documentary Catwalk and Isaac Mizrahi's Unzipped...
and Edward BurnsEdward BurnsEdward Fitzgerald Burns is an American actor, film producer, writer and director.-Early life:Burns was born in Woodside, Queens, New York, the son of Molly , a federal agency manager, and Edward J. Burns, a public relations spokesman and police officer. He was raised a Roman Catholic...
, 2003 - Gavin Newsom and Jennifer Siebel, 2008
Other clients
Gatti has undertaken significant projects for San Francisco OperaSan Francisco Opera
San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America...
,
San Francisco Ballet
San Francisco Ballet
The San Francisco Ballet is a ballet company, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. SFB is the first professional ballet company in the United States...
, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco
The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is a museum in San Francisco, California, United States. It has one of the most comprehensive collections of Asian art in the world....
, de Young Museum, San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco Art Institute is a school of higher education in contemporary art with the main campus in the Russian Hill district of San Francisco, California. Its graduate center is in the Dogpatch neighborhood. The private, non-profit institution is accredited by WASC and is a member of the...
, the San Francisco Zoo
San Francisco Zoo
The San Francisco Zoo, housing more than 260 animal species, is a zoo located in the southwestern corner of San Francisco, California, between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean along the Great Highway...
, Diane Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi
Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi is the Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives and served as the 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2007 to 2011...
, Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab
Charles Schwab may refer to:*Charles M. Schwab , American steel magnate*Charles R. Schwab , founder of the eponymous brokerage*Charles Schwab Corp., an American based brokerage firm...
, Peter Magowan
Peter Magowan
Peter A. Magowan is the former managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants Major League Baseball franchise.-Early life and career:...
, and Dede Wilsey
Dede Wilsey
Diane B. Wilsey is a San Francisco socialite and philanthropist, the widow of San Francisco businessman Al Wilsey.-Early life:She was born Diane Dow Buchanan in 1944, to Mr. and Mrs. Wiley T. Buchanan, Jr. Her father was, variously, the U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg and Austria, as well as the...
.