Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/504939
Charmaine Locke Honoree Stephanie Smither Honoree Dan Havel Sharon Willcutts ART LEAGUE HOUSTON GALA SHAKES IT UP CATHERINE D. ANSPON REPORTS. PHOTOGRAPHY LOGAN BECK. ARTIST OF THE YEAR, TAKE 31 It's a rite of passage: Art League Houston's annual bestowing of the Texas Artist of the Year and Patron of the Year honors, an occasion marked by a wild yet elegant do. Once again, the gala party transformed Hotel ZaZa into the seat of the royal visual court. This year's fête, "Found and Profound," toasted collaborators Dan Havel and Dean Ruck, aka Havel Ruck Projects, as the state's top creatives — the pair's 2005 Inversion installation along Montrose Boulevard will long live in memory as the best public sculpture ever in our fair town. Also sharing the playbill was Patroness of the Year Stephanie Smither, ardent outsider art collector, long-time Orange Show board member and founder of Smither Park, a visionary environment that adjoins the Orange Show. BID-A-RAMA Chair duties went to Gena Atwell, Jaci Day, Barbara and Marks Hinton, Victor Juarez and Wayne Blosat, and Jo Reid, who were joined by scenesters Art League executive director Michael Peranteau and visual arts director Jennie Ash; artist Selven O'Keef Jarmon (who will soon transform the League's metal- clad building with beading) and collaborator Bulelwa Bam, in from South Africa; The Menil Collection's director, Josef Helfenstein, who presented Miz Smither with her award; Smither Park architect Dan Phillips; board members including Aaron Reimer, Crystal Owens with husband Don Owens, and Sarah Bray, who co-chaired the gala in 2012, with mom Susan Bray, in from Chicago; and auction donors including artists McKay Otto, Robert Hodge, Patrick Renner, Patrick Turk (Jereann Chaney acquired his 3D Superorganism collage), and the honorees themselves, with George Hawkins nabbing House Slice by Havel Ruck Projects and Leigh Smith winning Ruck's J-Box. Adding to the bottom line was the gift of a snazzy Mark Flood painting (the artist and director Peranteau go way back; the Flood canvas was subsequently auctioned at Christie's, fetching $24,000 in under a minute of very brisk bidding). Victoria Lightman Linda Darke Jason Woods Robert Hodge Sarah Bray Don Owens Honoree Dean Ruck Debbie McNulty Patrick Renner Lovie Olivia Fredia L. Mitchell- McNeal Terrell James Cameron Armstrong John Goodrich Michelle Ludwig Selven O'Keef Jarmon Jessica Kreutter Patrick Turk Crystal Owens Michael Peranteau Mauricio Menjivar Paul Middendorf @cantonidesign Atlanta | Dallas | Houston | Irvine | Los Angeles | cantoni.com | 877.881.9191 Dallas 4800 Alpha Road, 972.934.9191 Houston 9889 Westheimer Road, 713.787.9494 Dallas 4800 Alpha Road, 972.934.9191 Houston 9889 Westheimer Road, 713.787.9494