PaperCity Magazine

May 2019- Houston

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36 PAPER BALL UNFOLDS SURREAL SURPRISES AT THE MENIL COLLECTION'S ENCHANTING PAPER EVENING By Catherine D. Anspon. Photography Jenny Antill Clifton and Johnny Than. F orget rock and scissors — this event was a grand evocation of the medium of paper. It unfolded at The Menil Collection's Richmond Hall, previously the venue for Men of Menil, the annual gents-only spring party that retired this year. Its replacement, Studio Menil Presents: Paper Ball, brimmed with surreal surprises, including inventive twists of paper in the manner of dress. For this night only, the hall was devoid of its signature artwork: the vibrantly hued Dan Flavin light installation, which was dismantled to make room. Chair couples Stephanie and Ernie Cockrell, Caroline and Jeremy Finkelstein, Blakely and Trey Griggs, and Bridget and Patrick Wade led the charge, alongside Menil director Rebecca Rabinow. The connected couples enjoined 250 guests — individual tickets were $1,250 each, with tables soaring to $25,000 — to embrace the spirit of the night, which alluded to the museum's new masterpiece of a building, the internationally acclaimed Menil Drawing Institute. PAPER RULED THE NIGHT Rebekah Johnson of Bergner & Johnson, party designer and florist to the art set, introduced a green note as guests entered Richmond Hall. A bower of dogwood trees bloomed in the foyer. Tree trunks topped with glass became tables; set with handmade paper vases filled with papyrus plants, they mimicked sculpture at the Menil. Following the theme, EarthColor Houston, printed the gala program on five different textured paper stocks, bound by white staples — very Menil. And PaperCity served as media sponsor — how could we not! Kudos to City Kitchen for its avant-garde interpretation of the menu for the seated dinner: red snapper en papilotte, delicately wrapped in a white paper bag. Dessert bonbons (bittersweet chocolate tarts) were followed by a celebratory explosion of confetti tubes, which roused the crowd to the dance floor. Danny Ray and the Acoustic Production turned the art space into a contemporary concert venue. Alison Weaver Chair octet Jeremy & Caroline Finkelstein, Blakely & Trey Griggs Stephanie & Ernie Cockrell, Bridget & Patrick Wade Francine & Westy Ballard Rebecca Rabinow, Doug Lawing Tables offered an ode to paper. Mise en scène

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