One great night

Social swells, arts players and rockers packed CultureMap headquarters for firstanniversary

CultureMap president Nicholas Phillips announces the start of the Buffalo Bayoupontoon boat tours.
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
For many, the Buffalo Bayou Partnership pontoon boat ride was the highlight ofthe night.
Photo by Michelle Watson/LastNightPics.com
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun
Photo by Anthony Rathbun

Hipsters from all corners of the city poured into CultureMap headquarters Tuesday night to join the daily digital magazine in celebrating its first anniversary. As many as 600 CultureMap fans packed the loft space for food and drink and high-level schmoozing.

Taking in the SoHo-style offices with hardwood floors, brick walls, 14-foot ceilings and the forest of Macs that populate desk tops, party guru Graham Gemoets observed, "I feel like I'm in Facebook, the movie."

Clearly, the synergy in the 5,600-square-foot space defied any Hollywood scripting. CultureMap CEO Stephen Newman and president Nic Phillips welcomed a heady contingent that included CAMH director Bill Arning, Houston Ballet managing director C.C. Conner, Ensemble Theatre executive director Janette Cosley and social figures/CultureMap investors John and Becca Cason Thrash. CultureMap investors Candice and Lonnie Schiller and Betsy and Tod Eason joined the throng as well.

While rock music pulsated through the space, guests such as developer Bob Schultz and wife Lane, oilman Mike Mayell and wife Karen, hair stylist Ceron and banker Evan Katz and wife Nicole Spevak Katz worked their way through the colorful crush. Pizzas and pasta from Piola, bites from the Strip House and cupcakes from Sprinkles were among the offerings to keep this crowd running on the chilly night.

Icing on the party cake were tours on the Buffalo Bayou Partnership's new pontoon boat. From the anchorage on the bayou down the banks from CultureMap headquarters, guests boarded for a 30-minute tour that moved west along the bayou to just beyond Wortham Theater Center. Dressing extra warm for the boat tours were guests including Yvonne and Scott Zeigler, Lydia Baehr, D.L. Groover, Vance Muse, Barbara and Dr. Tom Solis, Claudia Solis and Jessica and Joe Ross.

Stewart Skloss arrived early to make sure that the debut of his Pura Vida Tequila, washed down with sangrita, was in order. Miriam Habib had already been through, sprinkling the space with roses, orchids and holiday arrangements from Lexis Florist.

In the mix that represented a broad spectrum of the Houston scene were Judge Michael Massengale, Alan Bernstein, Katie and Pat Oxford, Caroline Starry LeBlanc and Jared LeBlanc, Kate Crady, Jeff Shell, Gabrielle Cosgriff, Catarina Cron, Neal Hamil, Courtney Hopson and Leigh Williams.

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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.”