Whiskey, Custom Cowgirl Boots and Diamonds: These Fundraising Ladies Are in a League of Their Own

Priscilla Dickson and Daniel Ortiz
Whiskey, Custom Cowgirl Boots and Diamonds: These Fundraising Ladies Are in a League of Their Own

Amanda Boffone, Jane Johnston, Amy Comiskey, Mimi Forester, Julie Comiskey

THE JUNIOR LEAGUE’S annual Charity Ball was a true taste of Texas, hosting 600-plus members and their guests for the first large-scale event in two years.


From the comfort-food-chic fare — a la mac and cheese alongside a crab-topped filet, and finished off with a pecan ball and lemon ice box pie — to the décor, which included thousands of Texas wildflowers, the great state shone brightly. There was even a boot-polishing station and a whiskey-tasting setup courtesy of Giant Distillery.

A live auction raised $100,000 by flaunting items like a vacay to Belize, a tour of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, tickets to see George Strait, custom his-and-hers boots from Republic Boot Company, and jewelry galore. The Grooves and the Honky Tonk Revivalists jammed out as guests boot-scooted their way onto the dance floor.

The weekend’s till topped $900,000. Yee-haw!

Adam and Stephanie Massey with Brett and Kristen McDonald

Anne Sears and Jennifer Roberts

Walter Sassard and Ruchi Mukherjee

Sydney and Barry Goss

Rebecca Morgan, Emily Scott, Jennifer Weinstock, Valorie Colter and Mallory Williams

Megan and Luke Hotze

Mitra Woody, Jennifer Howard and Marcy de Luna

Ben and Katie Eisterhold

Eric and Lisa McCarthy

Faisal and Madison Tai

Honky Tonk Revivalists

The Grooves

Bethany and Ben Buchanan

Parties

Sarah Sudhoff (photo by Katy Anderson)

SINCE THE 1970s, Houston’s cultural scene has only grown richer and more diverse thanks to the DIY spirit of its visual artists. As an alternative to the city’s major museums (which are awesome) and commercial galleries (again, awesome), they show their work and the work of their peers in ad-hoc, cooperative, artist-run spaces — spaces that range from the traditional white cube interiors, to private bungalows, to repurposed shipping containers.

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Art + Entertainment

Matthew Dirst (photo by Jacob Power)

FOR FANS OF early music — an often scholarly lot who aren’t afraid to wear their hearts on their sleeves — bad-boy Baroque-era painter Caravaggio certainly nailed something in his dramatic 1595 painting, “The Musicians.” (Simon Schama talks about this in his TV series The Power of Art.) One look at his masterpiece, and you feel as if you’ve stumbled upon and surprised a roomful of dewy-eyed musicians, their youthful faces swollen with melancholy, with the lutist looking like he’s about ready to burst into tears before he’s even tuned his instrument. So no, you certainly don’t need a Ph.D. to enjoy and be moved by the music of Handel, G.P. Telemann, or J.S. Bach, but a little bit of scholarship never hurt anyone. Knowing the history of this music may even deepen your appreciation of it.

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