Having a Ball

Ars Lyrica hosted a special event at Downtown’s Esperson building in support of its upcoming production of Handel’s Agrippina, the organization’s first fully staged Baroque opera. ... At the Houston Museum of Natural Science’s glitzy Jewel of the Nile gala, guests were greeted by none other than a pair of camels! Inside, dinner tables and auction items were featured throughout the museum’s exhibit halls. ... And the Reach for the Stars gala, held at the Briar Club, raised funds and awareness for the KnowAutism foundation. Deborah Duncan emceed the event, which included a fashion show presented by The Webster, as well as live and silent auctions touting items like a Hawaiian vacation.

Ars Lyrica by Pin Lim; HMNS by Wilson Parish; KnowAutism by Quy Tran


Donae and Rob Chramosta at KnowAutism
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David Ansell, Bennie Flores Ansell, Thuy Tran and James Tiebout

THE ROTHKO CHAPEL held its Inspirit fundraiser — a celebration of the power of art and activism — at the industrial-chic Astorian. The evening featured cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, and an onstage conversation with actor Cheech Marin, one of the world’s foremost collectors of Chicano art; 2023 Art League of Houston Texas Artist of the Year Vincent Valdez; and legendary civil rights advocate Dolores Huerta, who co-founded the United Farm Workers of America with César Chávez. (She’s 93, by the way!)

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Art + Entertainment

Cheech Marin reflecting outside of The Cheech (photo by David Fouts)

WHEN YOU TALK to Los Angeles-born actor Cheech Marin, regardless of how serious the subject, you can’t help but smile. His pop-culture presence is infused with an astute awareness of politics and history, and a “can do, make do, find a way to move ahead” spirit he connects to the word “Chicano,” a derogatory term that came to signify resilience, creative thinking, and social consciousness. “My dad, who died at age 93, always described himself as a Chicano, because it described him,” says Marin.

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Art + Entertainment