2024 Keynote Speakers
Our Kimball Lauritzen Luncheon & Lecture keynote speaker welcomes back a show favorite, Mark D. Sikes. Sikes is an esteemed interior designer and tastemaker working on projects throughout the United States and abroad, including the White House and Blair House. He is known for his all-American sensibilities and a fresh take on classical aesthetics. Mark has a talent for creating beautiful and timeless interiors that embody an indoor/outdoor lifestyle. He seeks to create beautiful interiors and, above all, a more beautiful world. Beauty of everywhere. It surrounds us each and every day; all we have to do is a look.
Jesse Carrier and Mara Miller, the founding principals of Carrier and Company Interiors, are a husband-and-wife interior design duo who create rooms that offer a confident mix of timeless and contemporary design – both familiar and fresh at once. Their guiding philosophy connects client with place in a manner that reflects the distinct and singular nature of both. From bohemian glamour to country charm, from modern luxe to the timeless and ineffable, from the historically informed to the tailored and refined, the Carriers delight in adapting their impassioned sensibility to the unique elements each project presents.
Their book, Defining Chic, was published in September 2023 and features some of their latest work, from a historic, art-filled New York duplex, replete with period vestiges, to an updated Mediterranean-style Southern California house. showcases homes that express their clients’ personalities and dreams, through the practical filters of lifestyle and location while revealing the design principles behind them.
Saturday afternoon will feature the floral designs of Ariella Chezar. Chezar is the author of “The Flower Workshop” and “Flowers for the Table”, she is a master floral designer whose work has graced the covers and pages of Martha Stewart Living, O Magazine, Better Homes & Gardens, Town & Country, and many more. She is a sought after teacher and lecturer and has designed flower arrangements for many high-profile clients, including the White House. A leader in the “farm-to-flower” movement, Ariella has a flower farm in Ghent, N.Y., where she grows blossoms for herself and for leading floral designers in New York.
At this year’s Sunday Luncheon & Lecture, we are delighted to welcome Monique Soltani, an award-winning journalist with a double major in Broadcast Journalism and American Studies and a lifetime of experiences sharing stories on and off camera. Monique honed her reporting skills working for network affiliates across the country, including KPIX-TV/CBS 5, KSEE-TV/NBC 24, and KPVI-TV/NBC 6. Spending the majority of her life working in newsrooms in California’s major cities from San Francisco to Los Angeles, Monique is deeply rooted in the region and has a core connection with the wine country community. In 2008 she started producing a segment called Wine Oh! TV, that has flourished into an award-winning television show exploring the world of wine. Come explore, learn, and unlock the secrets and stories of wine country!
Ready to be inspired and entertained by this year’s lineup of speakers? Reservations will open June 1. Call (402) 346-4002, ext. 267 to inquire about reservations >>
