Far Out! '80s Bash and Art Auction Raises $500K for the Glassell School

Jenny Antill
Far Out! '80s Bash and Art Auction Raises $500K for the Glassell School

Heidi Gerger, Cynthia Bigelow, Jereann Chaney and Mary Arocha

A RAD PARTY at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston raised half a mil for its Glassell School. The highlight of the MTV-themed bash was an auction of works by Glassell alumni, which were on display among the tie-dye décor in the mod new building.


More than 200 guests dressed up in neon and ’80s-rrific attire to view and bid on the art before a buffet dinner by Swift & Company, featuring inventive Mexican fare like chicken-and-walnut enchiladas and lentil tacos, plus a guacamole bar — all washed down with coffee-and-Kahlua milkshakes for dessert.

A DJ spun tunes befitting of a MTV-themed party and revelers — including gallery bigwigs like Kerry Inman, MFAH patrons Lily and Harrison Cullen, and event chairs Leigh and Reggie Smith — boogied down in the name of charity. The evening’s till topped $500,000.

Bobbie Nau and Gary Tinterow

Lisa Fred, Jenna Lindley and Frances Lummis

Reggie Smith, Brad Bucher and John Guess

Micheline Newall, Sam Gorman, Laurie Minniece and Silvia Salle

Liz and Tom Glanville

Alfred C. Glassell, III and Marli Andrade

Cullen Geiselman, Mary and Tom Lile, and Robert Muse

Apama Strickland and Brad Blume

Carrie Brandsberg-Dahl, Judy Nyquist and Sverre Brandsberg-Dahl

Megan Olivia Ebel

Art + Entertainment

Brooke Wyatt Trio

AS TOY-PIANO VIRTUOSO Schroeder hollers in Merry Christmas Charlie Brown, “Whaddya mean Beethoven wasn’t so great?!!” Real recognizes real, and Dec. 4-16, DACAMERA presents Beethoven For All, a free, six-concert series of 20 of Ludwig Van Beethoven’s piano sonatas performed by some of the city’s leading classical pianists.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment

'The Montefiore Mainz Mahzor,' c. 1310– 20, German in origin; and late 18th- to early 19th-century Torah crown, Polish in origin

IN 2018, THE Museum of Fine Arts, Houston acquired a rare and unusual object — an illuminated medieval manuscript, or mahzor, consisting of 299 leaves of prayers to be recited in synagogue on Jewish holidays. At that time, the museum had more than 60,000 Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu and Confucian objects in the collection, but only two objects that reflected Jewish culture. “And so, the big question was, ‘Why don’t we have more?’” says MFAH director Gary Tinterow.

Keep Reading Show less
Art + Entertainment