Lisa Helfman, Brandon Bourque and Karen Farber
About 350 supporters walked the red carpet — above which chandeliers hung from the park's towering oaks — and made their way into a see-through tent, which was also bedecked with crystal light fixtures. Chaired by Kusum and K. Cody Patel, the evening kicked off with cocktails and mingling before guests were seated for a tasty dinner.
The Ernest Walker Band performed with special guests Mary Griffin and Kyle Turner, and local artist Ange Hills created a live painting. Emcee Derrick Shore kept the program moving, eventually leading to the night's surprise announcement.
Discovery Green's president, Barry Mandel, and its Board of Directors chair, Julie Sudduth, took to the stage to thank Nancy and Rich Kinder for their $2 million gift, which will be used to establish an endowment. The donation brings the Kinder Foundation's total to more than $20.2 million over the past 20 years; additionally, Nancy helped raise Discovery Green's initial $54 million capital campaign.
“Looking at Downtown Houston now, it’s easy to forget it used to be an expanse of ugly concrete that everybody fled at 5pm on Friday,” said Mandel. “Thanks to the generosity of the Kinder Foundation, Discovery Green is now and will continue to be a vital place for Houstonians to gather with family and friends, and to enjoy the culture and diversity of the city. This transformation wouldn’t have been possible without the energy and love that Houstonians have poured into the park over the last 15 years.”
Since opening in April 2008, the 12-acre Discovery Green has welcomed more than 20 million visitors and hosted thousands of free events, including public art installations, concerts, workout classes and children's programming.
Anne-Marie Tcholakian and James Pendleton
Stan and Audrey Leong
Mark and Linda Evans with Lisa and Barron Wallace
Mary Ann and Larry Faulkner with Bill White
Ana Buckman and Andrew Abendshein
Jerome and Saundria Gray
Barry Mandel, Susanne Theis, and Nancy and Rich Kinder
Kyle Turner performs with the Ernest Walker Band
Stephen Klineberg, Barry Mandel, Sofia Adrogue and Robert Gallegos
Jason Salas and Lacey Dalcour Salas
Derrick Shore with artist Ange Hillz
Guests heading into Gala on the Green 2023
The UH Mariachi Pumas perform
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Installation in the Arts of the Islamic Worlds Galleries (photo by Richard Barnes)
The opening marks the 10th anniversary of the MFAH’s decade-long collaboration with the al-Sabah Collection, Kuwait, one of the most comprehensive collections of Islamic art in the world. On display are objects from the al-Sabah Collection, works from the MFAH’s holdings in Islamic art, and several Iranian masterworks from the 7th through 19th centuries now on long-term loan from the Afshar Collection, including paintings, ceramics, metalware, fabrics, and carpets.
Gallery 1 provides an introduction to recurring, centuries-old themes and visual motifs found in Islamic art, while Galleries 2 and 3 feature paintings from the pages of the Persian national epic, the Shahnama (Book of Kings), luster ceramics, and silk carpets from the pinnacle of Safavid carpet production.
Gallery 4 celebrates the sacred and secular arts of the book, with illuminated Qur’an manuscripts, illustrated histories and single-page paintings, as well as the calligrapher’s tools of the trade, including lacquer pen cases, inlaid scribes’ boxes, and ceramic sand shakers.
Gallery 5 explores the journey of Persian ceramics across trade routes to East Asia and China, and Gallery 6 is all about textiles and carpets — “woven treasures” which were integral to daily life and sacred and secular ceremonies.
“The new galleries are a culmination of the strong partnership between the museum, our dynamic Houston communities, and an extraordinary historical collection,” says Aimée Froom, curator of the arts of the Islamic worlds in a release. “Encompassing diverse cultures, ethnicities, languages, and regional traditions, this new presentation will convey the extraordinarily vibrant contributions and legacies of Islamic civilizations.”
Qur'an manuscript in Maghribi script
Shakhrisyabz Suzani
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