Shelby About Town

Texans stars go up close and personal with their fans, Joanne King Herring starsin Orleans & NYC designers get H-Town Cheeky

Susan Krohn, from left, Joanne King Herring, Taylor Hackford and JacquelineMcPherson at New Orleans Auction Galleries.
Photo courtesy of New Orleans Auction Galleries
Connor Barwin, left, and Shaun Cody, pictured here earlier in the year, wereheadliners at Houston Texans Grille event.
Samantha Pleet, from left, Morgan Carpe and Ann Yee at Cheeky Vintage.
Photo by Claudia Lederer Saenz
Audrey and Brandon Cochran opened their home to Houston Symphony YoungAssociates.
Photo by © Wilson Parish
Chris and Divya Brown, left, with Brooke and Nate Richards at Symphony event.
Photo by © Wilson Parish

Dividing her time between Houston and New Orleans since purchasing New Orleans Auction Galleries, Susan Krohn is still beaming over the success of the venerable auction house's three-day grand re-opening fete. Adding to the glamour and bidding highs was Joanne King Herring, who not only consigned a number of interesting pieces from her collection but also spread the joy.

Among the auction highlights was the record sale of a Thomas Downing oil on canvas, Grid Five, that sold for $86,100 against an auction estimate of between $8,000 and $12,000. Interestingly, two Texas estates were included in the auction — that of Zoe B. Talbert of Tyler and that of Houstonian Julius Killough III.

The Houston contingent, that included Judith Oudt, Sandy Barrett, Traci Bennett and Alina and Roberto Garcia, did its part to make the event a success. Monsour Taghdisi purchased a piece for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston's Islamic art collection while Mohammed Ladjevardian bought a vase from Herring's collection that had been a gift from the Shah of Iran.

Team Night at Houston Texans Grille

Lucky those who received an invitation to the Verizon Wireless football party at the popular CityCentre eatery earlier in the week. The 250 VIP Texans fans feasted on tailgate fare, texted questions to the celebrity guests and got up-close-and-personal with seven of the Super Bowl players-in-waiting.

Houston Texans joining "voice of the Texans" Marc Vandermeer in the spotlight were Shaun Cody, Connor Barwin, Ben Jones, Derek Newton, Brandon Brooks, Johnathan Joseph and Jon Weeks. The congenial sports stars stayed late to sign autographs, jerseys and helmets as well as pose for photos with the fans.

NYC designers hit Cheeky Vintage

Tina Davis and Denise Hazen rolled out the red carpet at their vintage clothing store on Richmond for Samantha Pleet, Morgan Carperand Ann Yee, all in from New York to pick up fashion inspiration. And that they did.

They departed with shopping bags filled with goodies including tan embroidered cowboy boots, a beaded cocktail dress in pink and black and a navy Chanel boyfriend cardigan.

Partying with symphony YPs

The Houston Symphony's second trumpet player Tony Prisk entertained members of the Symphony Young Associates Council with sounds from his collection of 15 instruments and with tales of his experiences as a symphony musician.

Close to 50 members gathered at the home of Audrey and Brandon Cochran for the reception. They included Lindley and Jason Arnoldy, Allison Brayton, Ting and John Bresnahan, Divya and Chris Brown, Peter Cazamias, Payal Chana and Sarah and Ben Cotting.

Sight 'ems

Mayor Annise Parker taking time out for a quiet, nevertheless power dinner, at Haven where Cindy Clifford hosted the informal round table on current issues. At the table were Port Commissioner Janiece Longoria and Steve Lasher, attorney/lobbyist Robert Miller, United Airlines exec Marty Stein, Fulbright Jaworski senior partner Neil Thomas, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison's regional director Jason Fuller and a few more . .

A full-bearded Michael Berry (a surprise too his full head of uncoiffed hair) in jeans and plaid shirt lunching at Brasserie 19 where the social tableau included Sheridan Williams, Randy Powers, Lora Clemmons, Vesta Frommer, Elizabeth Arnold, Laura Sweeney, Carson Seeligson and more . . .

Karen and Mike Mayell, Patsy and Greg Fourticq and his brother, Michael Fourticq (transplanting from LA to Houston) dining at Tony's where at a nearby table a group of thirtysomething entrepreneurs blew the tab into the stratosphere ordering three bottles of $4,000 wine, the flaming red snapper, pasta with truffles and Kobe beef — kaching!

Carol and Dr. Gary Gartsman having dinner for two at Bar Annie, the restaurant and bar packed with early holiday revelers.

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challenge your bias

Holocaust Museum Houston examines bias in Smithsonian-backed exhibit

New exhibit looks at how humans form hurtful biases.

Photo by Jef Rouner

"Bias Inside Us" at Holocaust Museum Houston.

Asked to explain bias, Robin Cavenaugh, the CMO for the Holocaust Museum Houston, pauses for a moment then cites the opening scene of HBO’s limited series Watchmen.

“I didn’t know about the Tulsa Race Massacre until I saw that show,” she says. “I work in Holocaust museum. We do exhibits on Black American history all the time. It had still somehow never come up in conversation before. That’s what bias does. It’s a system of missing information.”

That unconscious ignorance is a key component of “Bias Inside Us,” a new exhibit at the museum. A production of the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), the exhibit examines the subtle ways that bias frames the world.

One wall is dedicated to a photography project by Spanish photographer Angélica Dass. Humanae is a series of portraits of people of various skin hues, usually framed against nondescript backgrounds. The subjects all wear the same expressions, but their faces form a rich, random tapestry of humanity that dares the viewer to see them as different.

The exhibit is divided into six sections: Introduction, The Science of Bias, Bias in Real Life, Serious Consequences—Bias is All Around Us, #RetrainYourBrain, and Personal Reflection. The science looks at how our initial biases are formed. Babies instinctively gravitate to familiar faces. If that child grows up in a homogenous environment, they will begin to distrust people who look different.

That distrust manifests in hundreds of different ways that shape the world. As one quote on the wall from Stanford social psychologist Jennifer L. Eberhardt puts is, “When people think about racism they’re thinking about bigots, but you don’t have to have a moral failing to act on an implicit bias.”

Dotted throughout the exhibit are personal stories of bias. Students seen as troublemakers by teachers of a different race, police who arrest one ethnicity at higher rates than others, even two stepsisters (one Black, one mixed race Black and white) who received different treatment in a restaurant.

Collectively these all add up to greater sociological actions.

“Here at the museum, we obviously try to tie everything back to the Holocaust,” says Cavenaugh. “Those biases, built up over hundreds or thousands of years, lead to atrocities. It’s regular people feeling an inherent distrust or fear.”

“Bias Inside Us” is a gentle exhibit. It frames the fight against bias as one of correction, not condemnation. An ad from the Love Has No Labels ad council from 2015 shows crowds reacting to X-ray portrayals of couples and families that show only their skeletons. It’s impossible to tell race or gender until the subjects come around the front to reveal who they are.

The last part is a small wall space with sticky notes and pencils. Visitors are encouraged to write the ways they will combat bias in the future and stick it to the wall. It’s a final sign that the quest to end bias starts with us making conscious change despite early ideas of trust and safety.

“Bias Inside Us” runs at the Holocaust Museum Houston until October 6.

bias inside us holocaust museum houston museums

Shelby About Town

Texans stars go up close and personal with their fans, Joanne King Herring starsin Orleans & NYC designers get H-Town Cheeky

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challenge your bias

Holocaust Museum Houston examines bias in Smithsonian-backed exhibit

CultureMap Emails Are Awesome
Get Houston intel delivered daily.