Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/1439514
By Catherine D. Anspon. Photography Emily Jaschke. A s Houston charities curate benefits to make up for a year of lost happenings and empty coffers, one art group went all-out for its gala. Cue The Big Bang! Gala. Outrageous. Over-the-top. All to raise funds for one of America's most famed outsider art monuments — the beloved Orange Show and its fabulous phalanx of entities, including the Beer Can House, Smither Park, and the iconic Art Car Parade. This ultimate cosplay bash also marked the 40th anniversary for this center for visionary art, an outsider environment founded by Jeff McKissack (1902 – 1980), a mail carrier turned monument-building artist. Orange Show founder and board chair Marilyn Oshman joined co-chair quartet Melissa and Paul Dobrowski and Julia and Will Robinson and auction co-chairs Beth Abramson- Meltzer and Lane Schultz to reign over a crowd of more than 500 (vaccination cards required for entry) at the Orange Show World Headquarters, a cavernous warehouse that went galactic for the occasion. Orange Show director Tommy Ralph Pace served up an announcement that preceded a seated dinner at Tony's, revealing that the Orange Show will head into its next decades with a new museum dedicated to visionary art, a game- changing endeavor led by architecture firm Rogers Partners. The night closed down with Morris Day and The Time (he, a pal and collaborator with Prince). The crowd went wild, and the Orange Show was $800,000 richer. Outta This World: Karen Lubetkin Desenberg; Mr. Orange Show aka Don Mafrige Jr., Katherine and Chris Gillman; Houston Arts Alliance's John Abodeely and board chair Craig Massey; Lynn Mathre and Stewart O'Dell; Sunday Riley and Bruce Eames; Libbie Masterson and Mark Sullivan; Ashley and Curt Langley; Paige and Todd Johnson; Ann Hyde Smither and John Kerr Smither; Justice Margaret Poissant; Franny Koelsch Jeffries and John Jeffries; Art League Houston director Jennie Ash; Texas Southern's museum director Dr. Alvia Wardlaw; Sharon and Gus Kopriva; artist Gonzo247, who painted a canvas live for the auction; Barbara Hill; Star and Jack Massing; and Heritage Auctions' Frank Hettig and Ed Beardsley, in from Dallas. 40 CANDLES ON THE { ART } CAKE JUICING IT UP AT ORANGE SHOW GALA Co-chairs Julia & Will Robinson Co-chair Melissa Dobrowski Ashley Langley Marilyn Oshman John Kerr Smither & Anne Hyde Smither Aïda Eltorie, Surena Matin Laura Rathe, Tracy Levit Larner & Glen Larner Chris & Katherine Gillman, Amy & Slade Stargel Beth Abramson-Meltzer Lane Schultz John Gregory Karen Lubetkin Desenberg Gary Williams 34