Those who walked through the front doors of the Museum of Northern California Art were met with pink Barbie overload during the first ever “Inspired by Barbie” event and art competition on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Once past the white-painted wood and glass-paned doors, attendees could pay the $20 entry fee and choose one or more Barbies — primarily sourced from local thrift stores — hanging from a patterned metal rack.
As the waiting, mostly-nude dolls were chosen, attendees could enter the gallery to the left of the entryway and begin creating Barbie fashions using a variety of materials such as cloth scraps, feathers, fuzzy sticks, string and lace.
There was also a variety of cardboard to create Barbie’s Dreamhouse. The team that created the best environment would win a limo ride and two dinners at the new restaurant in Meriam Park, Rione Italian Restaurant.
A white limo with flashing, colored lights, owned by Vince and Kesha Haynie through Royal Kingdom Transport, was parked outside of the museum as an incentive for artists to try their hardest.
Originally, the competition winner was supposed to be determined by ballot, but MONCA owner and event coordinator, Pat Macias, decided to allow everyone to share in the prize. Ultimately, it was decided two of the attendees would split the free dinners and limo ride.
Attendees were also encouraged to dress up in Barbie fashions, a bedazzled bottle of wine was the award for the best dressed.
Vince and Kesha Haynie, in their matching pink pantsuits, won the best-dressed award.
Between making fashions and environments, attendees could stop by Cee-Dee Photo Booth Rentals’ Barbie-inspired photo booth owned by Didy Ncho and Christian Dee.
A bright pink Barbie backdrop hid the standard white wall of the gallery. A small red carpet covered the wooden floors and was surrounded by gold and red-rope stanchions, creating a Hollywood-esque setting.
A small table full of props — brightly colored zebra hats, leis, boas and sunglasses — sat to the left side of the photo booth. Attendees could choose their prop and pose for two photos, a GIF or a Boomerang which could then be printed, emailed or texted as a keepsake.
The prints were customized to the event and were Barbie-ified just like everything else at the event.
Pink-tastic snacks, such as strawberries, popcorn, Twinkies, cheese and crackers and more, were laid out on a black-clothed table near the front desk.
Even the playlist was Barbie-ified and was composed of songs from the recently released “Barbie” film, including Dua Lipa’s “Dance The Night” and Nicki Minaj and Ice Spice’s “Barbie World (With Aqua).”
There was also a no-host bar stocked with fancy Barbie-like wines and pink-colored non-alcoholic drinks.
Other than being “Barbie-inspired,” Pat said the event was inspired by the drive to get people to work together.
“We love for people to have fun and be creative at the same time,” Pat said. “We want people to work together and create their environments.”
Four tables were scattered across the gallery, each one hosting a different single designer or team, but after around 30 minutes, most of the tables were pushed together so attendees could talk and create at the same time.
There were four distinct projects going on in the same room.
Pat and her husband, Richard Macias, made up one team, though they weren’t vying for the prize. Richard, a retired architect, took charge of the environment part of the competition, designing a pool and dock-like structure for his two Barbies.
“The goal is to build something structurally possible, but have it be rather unique,” Richard said. “It should be modern, I think Barbie would want it to be modern.”
Pat took charge of the fashion designing and created a lace and multi-colored bathing suit for one of their Barbies.
Richard also said the competition was rather challenging due to the time constraints and limited building materials.
On a slightly smaller, more intimate scale, Susie Knowles, owner of Happy Cat Pilates, created a black, cat-inspired Barbie couch, adorned with cat food pillows and an ottoman.
Limo owners Vince and Kesha Haynie decided not to create an environment but designed some distinct Barbie and Ken fashions with bold black and white patterns, complete with fuzzy stick boots.
Their decked-out dolls could be seen lounging on Knowles’ cat couch, alongside her own black and white clothed doll who had murky blue rubber band shoes.
Only one Ken was featured out of all of the environments, evidence that he’s … just Ken.
A MONCA volunteer, Kathaleen Reed, created her own environment she said was inspired by a structure she saw in Florida. She also added some feathers to pre-clothed Barbies to create a “new age” look.
Reed was excited to be able to take part in the event because she got to meet people and be creative.
The last creation was made by Katie Mintzer, a fine arts teacher at Chico High School. Going into the creating process, Mintzer said she had no idea what she wanted to make, but was feeling inspired by the available materials.
“It’s nice to get to play and have fun,” Mintzer said. “It’s therapeutic to create.”
The event ended around 30 minutes early, but everyone left with a smile on their faces. Despite the small turnout, it was evident it was a Barbie night to remember.
“Inspired by Barbie” was a MONCA fundraiser and Pat said the funds will go toward “what we have now and tucked away for the future.”
I too joined in on the fun and designed my own Barbie-inspired fashion.
Ariana Powell can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
