Monday, November 9, 2026

EVENT UPDATE : DYNASTY & DESIGN GALA .. PUTNAM MUSEUM & SCIENCE CENTER .. DAVENPORT IOWA .. NOVEMBER 14TH 2026 ..

Joan with Rene Horsch

New “Dynasty & Design” gala at Putnam coming Nov. 14

WVIK, Quad Cities NPR | By Jonathan Turner..

The Quad Cities’ version of the Met Gala will take over the Putnam Museum & Science Center Grand Lobby on Saturday, Nov. 14, as a new “Dynasty & Design” gala will raise money for a big fashion exhibit next November.

Michele Darland, Putnam vice president of development, has already sold out the exclusive, 130-guest event at 6:30 p.m. that Saturday, with tickets going for $70 a person; $500 a table, and Champagne VIP Service for $800 (including bottle service, your own server, and a private lounge just for you).

The Putnam is capping admission to the gala, and has sold out the 130 seats it’s offered, likely cutting it off there, she said Friday, Nov. 6.

“We're going for quality, not quantity, and we are at capacity logistically with all of the things we want to do. So we're sold out and we're planning one heck of an event,” Darland said.

“Come dressed as though you own the penthouse, the fashion house and the room,” says the Putnam description of the gala. “Sequins. Statement jewelry. Bold silhouettes. There’s nothing out of bounds and nothing too fierce.”

Guests will help make the Putnam’s 2027 fall fashion exhibition possible. Slated for November 2027 through Valentine’s Day 2028, the Putnam is working to bring dozens of high-fashion textiles, all worn by celebrities like Liz Taylor and Joan Collins and created by designers like Nolan Miller and Mark Zunino.

“The idea started with the fact that we have such an extensive textile repertoire, inventory, that I thought, it can't come out all the time because of dust or light. But it can come out for 90 minutes, and I thought, why not create a club where we can do programming around our textile art, textile collection?” she said Friday.

Michele Darland vice president of development, is organizing the "Dynasty & Design" Gala in the Grand Lobby.

“It's also the groundswell of investment that we're using to start this fashion exhibit for 2027,” Darland said of the planned 2027-28 exhibit. “The Collection Couture members definitely help support the creation and production of this exhibit coming.”

This show will feature 30+ costumes of notable Hollywood actresses and personalities worn either on the set of movies and TV or on the red carpet. This exhibit will show the creativity and strength of women and the designers who clothed them.

Famous Davenport native designer

Darland got the idea for the major exhibit to feature Davenport Central alum Rene Horsch, a 58-year-old fashion designer based in Los Angeles, who first made it big in the ‘80s.

“He went out to L.A., landed with Nolan Miller, and became his assistant,” Darland said, noting the Putnam exhibit will be called “Working the Set, Walking the Red Carpet.” It will feature dresses made famous by TV stars Joan Collins, Linda Evans, Linda Gray and Donna Mills, as well as historic Quad Cities women.

Miller (1933-2012) was a fashion and jewelry designer, best known for costume design on the hit ‘80s series “Dynasty.”

Horsch will be at the Nov. 14 gala, which will be a year before the 2027 fashion exhibit kickoff. “Basically, it's where fashion meets philanthropy,” Darland said.

Angie Sharp will emcee the gala, which will feature an auction of 10 gowns to be part of the exhibit, with winners sponsoring them for the display. They will be featured on mannequins during the gala.

“If you want, if you bid for Linda Evans, you will be acknowledged in the exhibit. So that's how we're raising money for the exhibit, is by a live auction of these dresses,” Darland said. “But you don't get to take them home.”

The gala will feature a DJ playing ‘80s hits, and the atmosphere will be high glamour and camp, she noted.

“We’ll be recreating a dynasty, high drama, high glamour excess of the '80s with shoulder pads and sequins and a red carpet and white leather furniture, specialty cocktails,” Darland said.

“Rene will be greeting guests, and just the gowns themselves are such a gorgeous ornament to the evening. So very curated and elevated, and we have some surprises for the guests. We have actors coming as Joan and Linda, and there's just gonna be camp drama.”

Nolan Miller met future TV impresario Aaron Spelling in an L.A. flower shop in the ‘50s. Spelling (1923-2006) was the producer behind TV hits “Charlie’s Angels,” “The Love Boat,” “Dynasty,” and “Beverly Hills, 90210.”

“And one said to the other, whoever makes it big first brings the other along. And that's why Nolan Miller is the designer for all of Aaron Spelling's shows,” Darland said. “I believe Nolan Miller did not have any children, and he was a relatively young man when he passed, and he bequeathed all of his archives to Mark Zunino.”

Zunino was Miller’s assistant and they worked together on “Dynasty” (1981-1989), which co-starred Collins and Evans.

Horsch is Collins’ top stylist, Darland said. “He and Joan, anytime Joan has something, he travels to Saint-Tropez to prepare her for a photograph, a photography session. He puts up her Christmas tree in LA. So René is Joan's stylist of choice.”

“We’ll be recreating a dynasty, high drama, high glamour excess of the '80s with shoulder pads and sequins and a red carpet and white leather furniture, specialty cocktails,” Darland said.

Zunino was Miller’s assistant and they worked together on “Dynasty” (1981-1989), which co-starred Collins and Evans.

“We’ll be recreating a dynasty, high drama, high glamour excess of the '80s with shoulder pads and sequins and a red carpet and white leather furniture, specialty cocktails,” Darland said.

Zunino was Miller’s assistant and they worked together on “Dynasty” (1981-1989), which co-starred Collins and Evans.

Joan with Rene & Mark Zunino

The Nov. 14 gala will be unusual for the Putnam to solely focus on fundraising for bringing a world-class exhibit here. “And it’s coming from within our walls,” she said. “We've always had textiles in our exhibits, but this one is solely highlighting our textiles. It's showcasing how lovely and deep our textiles are.”

From the Met Gala (an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum’s Costume Institute in New York) to big fashion exhibits worldwide, showcasing clothing has become profitable for museums, Darland said.

“They're popping up because they realize that they are attracting an audience that might not come to a museum regularly. But they'll come to see the fashion,” she said. “So research has shown, and this is why I proceeded to present it to Cindy (the Putnam CEO), the admission is bumped up about 30% more, more traffic than general in museums. If you have a fashion exhibit, it should spike 30% more admission.”

“It's a universal interest, whereas someone who might say, oh, history and science, I'm not a fan, but I'll go to see Joan Collins' dress,” Darland said. “If you were a kid growing up, I mean, in the television era, you can relate on the most basic level.”

The Nov. 14 Putnam schedule will be: