Having a Ball

The biennial Gala on the Green, celebrating a decade of Discovery Green, was tree-rific! The black-tie evening highlighted the park’s dedication to the arts and featured performances by Two Star Symphony, Archie bell, The Allen Oldies Band and others. … The Junior League of Houston’s two-night Charity Ball event raised $750,000. … Galveston’s oldest krewe, the Knights of Momus, celebrated the first weekend of Mardi Gras with its Coronation Presentation and Ball, this year adopting a “fiesta” theme. … Houston Children’s Charity’s annual gala took place at the Post Oak Hotel, where a call for donations of five handicap-accessible vans was heeded — and matched by Jana and Richard Fant. The crowd celebrated to the sounds of Styx!

Bollywood performance at ‘Green’
Bollywood performance at ‘Green’


Tony Brown, Ari Brown, and Lisette Brown at 'Knights'

Party People

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