Artful happenings
Museum conference takes city socializing to new heights with loads of museumparties
The conference partying began early with a leadership dinner at the home ofChristopher and Courtney Sarofim.Photo by Monica Rhodes
Sarofim dinner guests represented a variety of museums.Photo by Monica Rhodes
The AAM director,left, shares a social moment at the Sarofim party.Photo by Monica Rhodes
Photo by Monica Rhodes
Photo by Monica Rhodes
Photo by Monica Rhodes
Photo by Monica Rhodes
Citywide, H-town museums are rolling out the red carpet for the 5,000 guests that have poured into town for the American Association of Museums conference, ensuring that the four days of confabing are not just all work and no play. In fact, there is such a cornucopia of nightly party offerings that choosing which event to attend has been a challenge.
Would it be the taste of Texas offered at the working George Ranch or the Noche Latina at the Children's Museum, both offered on Wednesday? To attend the block party bash Monday night at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston or head over to Houston Zoo for an evening in the African Forest or answer the lure of Space Center Houston?
Credit for these alluring choices goes to Contemporary Arts Museum Houston director Bill Arning and Susie Criner, owner of Gulf Coast Entertainment, who headed the events subcommittee that orchestrated four nights of high-level entertainment for conference guests. As Monica Rhodes, local conference coordinator, explained, "With a lot of conferences there is a lot of down time. That's the one thing with the AAM, there's never a dull moment."
For the top guns who arrived in town on Saturday, the invitations were out for a leadership reception at The Menil Collection followed by a leadership dinner at the River Oaks home of Courtney and Christopher Sarofim. She chairs the local host committee.
That invitation-only soirée, held in the Sarofim garden, was co-hosted by Aliyya and Herman Stude along with Sotheby's. Jamie Niven, Sotheby's vice chairman, and Nina del Rio, Sotheby's director of museum services, joined in the al fresco evening that included a Mexican dinner by City Kitchen, music by a mariachi trio and plenty of sophisticated schmoozing.
The calendar was busy on Sunday with more than 1,500 conference attendees grooving to the sounds of Skyrocket at the House of Blues, where the opening night fete took place.
Rhodes explained that all of the city's museums were interested in participating in the conference in a way that showcased their individual riches and displayed a large measure of Houston hospitality. These ticketed events were $45 each for attendees with $15 going to the committee for transportation and the remainder going to the museums to help cover costs of the special events.
Monday night is the big daddy of conference fetes with 800 expected for the "Texas-Sized Block Party" that will spread across Bissonnet (plenty of police help crossing the street) between the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Tex-Mex food stations, live entertainment, a DJ, open bars and gallons of margaritas are expected to please the international crowd with delegates from 55 countries.
Other delegates are opting for the outing to Space Center Houston or the jungle adventure at Houston Zoo. Which way to go?
As Arning wrote in his AAM blogpost, "There’s so much to learn, so much to do when AAM converges on a new city. One of my favorite ways to explore museums is during the AAM sanctioned Evening Events. And this year in Houston, the events are nothing short of spectacular and guaranteed to deliver multiple WOW moments."
On Tuesday, The Menil Collection, the Heritage Society, Texas Southern University and the Houston Museum of Natural Science open their doors for those with tickets. Will it be the progressive dinner across the campus at TSU and exploration of African and American art and music or an adventure at HMNS that includes food stations, a flashlight tour of exhibitions and dancing to the sounds of a DJ in the dinosaur exhibition?
The displays of antique planes and the nostalgia of the 1940 Air Terminal Museum, complete with big band music, are on the dance card for Wednesday. But then perhaps the lure of Texas barbecue, campfire sing-alongs and hay rides at the George Ranch in Richmond is stronger. That same night the Children's Museum of Houston and the Health Museum join forces for a party complete with catering by Ninfa's, marichis and dancing to the sounds of Norma Zenteno.
