art heist — foiled

Museum of Fine Arts, Houston responds after recent Bayou Bend burglary attempt

Suspects used a boat to escape from the collection.

Photo courtesy of MFAH/Bayou Bend

The caper seems straight out of a rejected scene from the Ocean’s Eleven series, but it’s real life and was hardly a laughing matter to the staff at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens.

Bayou Bend staff released a statement regarding a recent attempted burglary that occurred — which included a motor boat and a daring escape.

On March 16 at approximately 6:45 pm, two intruders (a man and a woman) entered Bayou Bend, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s home for American decorative arts and paintings, through a grate to a basement window on the north terrace. The burglar alarm sounded and our security guard responded.

After the intruders escaped through the front door on the south façade, the security guard chased them through the woods.
The intruders had a motor boat waiting on the bayou. The Houston Police found the boat after the suspects escaped through a culvert.

Fortunately, no one was harmed, according to staff. Additionally, no works were reported damaged nor was anything removed from the Bayou Bend premises.
Houston Police teams recovered the boat and hope it will provide clues about the suspects, ABC13 notes.

As Houstonians are aware, the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens is a local gem, drawing thousands of visitors annually to the 14 acres nestled on both sides of Buffalo Bayou in River Oaks. The genteel collection normally sees myriad society events, fashion shows, and parties each year.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”