The Israeli organization Shalva approaches its American fund raising with unusual creativity. The theme of this year’s dinner, “Art in Action,” had the bartenders and waiters wearing berets. They had plenty of painting to do: Equipped with squeeze bottles, they decorated plates with squiggles and swirls around the entrees. At the dessert bar, culinary artists created sculptures out of spun sugar and whimsical, towering cakes. Guests also had an artistic role in the menu: selecting chocolates to take home in a silver box, and designing their own ice cream sundaes.

The art at the event was not limited to the food. Artist Christof Breidenich worked for four hours creating a gigantic painting that ultimately broke down into individual canvases distributed to guests. Nearby, models posed as famous paintings such as “American Gothic.”

The master painter of the evening was the woman who planned it all, Lisa Low, wife of the chairman of the American Friends of Shalva, Nathan Low. Credit is also due to Infinity Caterers, which imaginatively interpreted the theme while serving up an extremely large amount of food. The honorees of the event, Jamie and Yoni Leifer, Neil and Sherry Cohen, and Esther and Jacques Semmelman, assured there would be hundreds of people there to enjoy it.

The event raised about half of Shalva’s $3.5 million annual budget, which provides for free care to children with special needs in Israel. Big things are happening for Shalva this year: It just opened an early childhood center and it has received a large parcel of land to build a $30 million center that will expand its capacity fivefold and allow it to embark on adult care.

Many of the American supporters of Shalva spoke about their visits to the center in Jerusalem, which has breathtaking views of the city.

agordon@nysun.com