Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/831570
10 letter editor HUNT SLONEM I t's almost 2 am in the morning, Monday, May 15, and the PaperCity Design Awards are tonight, kicking off Texas Design Week Houston. It's been months of intense labor crafting this week-long design festival of keynotes, book signings, forums, luncheons, pop-up shops, and cocktail parties. Our major underwriter, West Avenue, is the epicenter of TXDW, with many of the central events clustered here, but other keynotes are at David Sutherland Showroom, Found, Internum, Meredith O'Donnell, Chateau Domingue, and the Rothko Chapel. The moment TXDW wraps in Houston, PaperCity's tireless partner in TXDW, Alton LaDay, and I begin planning Texas Design Week Dallas, which is scheduled for first week of November. May was a good design month for many people. Randy Powers, known in design circles as J. Randall Powers Interior Decoration, and Christopher Alexander, who works with J. Randall, are off tomorrow to NYC, where Randy picks up his fifth Elle Decor A-List award. The only Houston firm and the only Texas designer that has made the coveted list this year — and since 2012 — he richly deserves this. In his inventory of notches are an Architectural Digest feature (for his own home), a New York Times feature (again, for his own house), two Elle Decor covers and three features, one Veranda cover and two features, two features in House Beautiful, and, of course, several design projects presented in PaperCity. Our heartfelt congratulations to this very talented duo. Looking at June, Becca Cason Thrash's Liaisons au Louvre IV (June 18 through 20) and La Dolce Vita Venezia (June 22 and 23) are looming. I think half of Houston — and a chunk of Dallas — are packing their bags for this week-spanning extravaganza, raising funds for both the Louvre and Venetian Heritage, on whose boards Becca sits. An important aspect of the fund-raising arm is the live auction of contemporary art in both Paris and Venice. On the block are lots by notables including Anish Kapoor, Michael Chow, Haas Brothers, Christopher Wool, Retna, and even the chance to commission a portrait by Francesco Clemente. More than likely, the artists themselves will be sitting in the audience. Holly Moore Editor in Chief holly@papercitymag.com