Models on the steps of the Metropolitan Club for the Erte’-inspired Ziegfeld Follies Ball at the Metropolitan Club.

The Ziegfeld Award of Excellence is awarded by the United States Society for Education Through Art and the International Society for Education Through Art. In 1977, Erte, the Russian-French designer and artist, was the winner. The proceeds  from the Ziegfeld Ball that year, held in his honor, went to the New York Lung Association. Erte, the “Father of Art Deco,” was known in part for the elaborate costumes he created for women who took part in the Ziegfeld Follies. Designers invited to the ball were challenged to re-imagine Erte’s vision of glitz and glamor.  Models paraded down the long staircase of the Metropolitan Club in New York on May 21, 1977, their garments full of fluff and feathers.