Electrifying!

Lighted art cars rock and roll at first annual Gloworama

Fireworks at the end of the parade signaled the start of the low-key AfterGlowparty in the George R. Brown Convention Center.
Bill Olive
Evelyn Fasnacht's open sleigh art car heralded the arrival of Santa.
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Holland Chaney, left, Kate Fester and Vanessa Riley, who made a voluptuous Mrs.Claus.
Photo by Bill Olive
Add a few lights and an art car becomes party of the illuminated parade.
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The "Dance" mobile was sponsored by Carnes Funeral Home.
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Cool dudes light up the night on the Avenida de las Americas.
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Lights and more lights entertain the crowd of 8,000.
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Russ Richmond and Marianne Mallia
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This normal-looking Santa makes an unconventional arrival — driving a redLincoln.
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Callie Brown, left, Andy DiRaddo and Terri DiRaddo
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Rusty Riall, from left, Joelle Litwak and Buddy Lewis were among street skatersaccompanying the art cars.
Bill Olive
Evelyn and Jim Fasnacht
Bill Olive

Now really, what was Santa doing cruising the streets of downtown Houston with a pole dancer and a belly dancer? And what about the ice cream sandwiches flying out of the window of the Snow Dog ice cream truck?

That was just a sliver of the unconventional activity sparked by the art car crowd on Saturday night for the launch of the city's first illuminated art car parade — Gloworama.

More than 50 whimsically lighted art cars glided, jerked and jived down Avenida de las Americas in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center, entertaining a crowd of more than 8,000. And in true art car tradition, the scene was total whacked-out fun.

Santa arrived, not in an open-air sleigh but driving a red Lincoln. A bagpiper in full kilt regalia performed in the stern of a rolling pirate ship. A personal favorite was the Carnes Funeral Home "Mobile Disco" vehicle -- a hollowed out school bus with disco tunes blaring, riders tossing Mardi Gras beads and funeral home frisbees into the crowd and signs encouraging all to "Get Up and Dance," a mortician's ultimate fantasy.

Costumed, illuminated skaters swirled in and out of the rolling procession adding another layer of visual stimulation to the scene.

"I think we have the beginning of a fabulous event . . . next time, I want 10 times the route," said art car owner Evelyn Fasnacht, who along with Sharon Adams of the Convention and Entertainment Facilities Department, divined the colorful antidote to Thanksgiving weekend blahs. The event, underwritten primarily by H-E-B, was co-sponsored by the CEFD, the Houston Downtown Alliance and Art Cars of Houston.

Fasnacht drove her own holiday-themed art car loaded with lights, a Christmas tree, lighted reindeer soaring overhead and fashion designer Vanessa Riley, riding on the trunk, portraying a voluptuous Mrs. Claus in an original costume.

For a first-time happening, the night was chock full of activity. It began with a light show spectacular by Andy DiRaddo's LD Systems illuminating one side of the George R. Brown. While the crowds gathered along the boulevard for a view of the show, a contingent of heavy hitters, plunking down $150 per person, partied on a convention center balcony where food, drink and an overhead view of the parade were included. Mayoral candidate Annise Parker was among them.

"This is so incredibly fantastic," Parker said. "Houston is just on the verge of being one of the most cool cities in the country."

The partying went on late into the night with the AfterGlow, a schmooze in the convention center where the art cars were parked for close inspection and where the Rich Latimer Band played.

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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.”