a lott to cheer about

Downtown's favorite green space and entertainment destination names familiar face as new leader

One of Houston's most beloved green spaces and entertainment destinations has a new chief. Kathryn Lott, who currently serves as executive director of Chris Shepherd's Southern Smoke Foundation, will take over as president of Discovery Green Conservancy, the organization announced.

Lott's tenure as president will begin on July 1, when current and longtime Discovery Green head Barry Mandel officially retires, per press materials.

Photo by Julie Soefer

Southern Smoke executive director Kathryn Lott.

The leader of Shepherd's far-reaching nonprofit that assists food, restaurant, and hospitality workers in financial need has plans to unite her new organization with her former.

“Discovery Green is a place that welcomes our community, fosters creativity and celebrates traditions,” Lott tells CultureMap. “During my time with Southern Smoke, we did the same through food and culture. Now, I get to harness that experience of bringing together communities through food and combine it with an urban green space where Houstonians can easily access and celebrate the performing and visual arts, wellness and green space.

“One way Discovery Green will do this is by being host venue to the annual Southern Smoke Festival this fall. I am thrilled to be a part of these two projects coming together and seeing how they make the city thrive.”

An esteemed, 20-year veteran of high-profile nonprofits, Lott has worked for prestigious organizations such as Houston Grand Opera, Society for the Performing Arts (now known as Performing Arts Houston), and the Children’s Museum of Houston.

A noted event producer and co-founder of Lott Entertainment, she has managed large-scale events for University of Houston Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts, Baylor College of Medicine, Legacy Community Health, East End Chamber District, and more. She has also overseen events for Discovery Green, giving her keen insight into the destination and its appeal.

Discovery Green's board, it seems, agrees.

“We wanted to ensure the new president continues the park’s success at the high caliber level it has achieved today,” said chair of Discovery Green Conservancy’s board of directors, Julie Sudduth in a statement. “The landscape for parks in Houston has changed since the opening of Discovery Green as has the neighborhood that surrounds it so the board wanted someone who could be visionary. We think Kathryn is the right person to lead Discovery Green into the future and are thrilled she has accepted the role.”

Pivotal in Discovery Green's growth and profile, Mandel has overseen the space since 2010, just two years after it opened. He helped attract conventions such as Starbucks, Microsoft, and Google, per press materials, and helped draw Super Bowl Live, Final Four NCAA March Madness Music Fest, and other large events.

Under Mandel's leadership, Discovery Green scored a Good Brick Award, a spot on America’s favorite parks list, and was named one of the American Planning Association’s Great Places in America in 2019.

“You do not know how much joy it gives me to turn over something I love to someone I love,” Mandel, who served as Lott’s mentor during their downtown Houston arts community days, in a statement. “I know she understands the essence of this place and how much it means to me, the team and the community.”

Since opening in 2008, Discovery Green has evolved from two downtown surface parking lots into a vibrant, central green space and urban entertainment venue. Its creation helped spark more than $1.8 billion surrounding development, as well as a return to downtown as a living, working, and entertainment destination.

Serving as president, Lott will shepherd the Discovery Green Conservancy's work in care, maintenance, and programming of the 12-acre park, as well as fundraising for the more than $6 million annual budget the greenspace requires.

bowled over

Houston artist dishes on Food Bank fundraiser happening this weekend

Picture of several artists at a table with a bunch of handmade ceramic bowls.

Photo courtesy Paula Murphy

Ceramics professor Cori Cryer and her students from Lone Star College Kingwood and the bowls they donated to the 20th Empty Bowls fundraiser

On Saturday, May 16, shoppers have an opportunity to feed those in need by purchasing unique, handcrafted items. The 20th Empty Bowls event takes place at Silver Street Studios at Sawyer Yards from 10 am to 3 pm. A preview party takes place on Friday, May 15 from 6-8 pm (buy tickets here).

The fundraiser is a collaboration between Houston-area ceramists, woodturners, and artists working in all media and Silver Street Studios.

Shoppers can purchase one-of-a-kind bowls for $25 each (larger bowls are priced accordingly). A simple lunch from Salata, a sweet treat from Ben & Jerry’s, and iced coffee from Katz Coffee is served until it runs out. Every dollar of the purchases goes to the Houston Food Bank, which estimates that for every dollar donated, it’s able to provide three meals to Houstonians in need. Since its inception, Empty Bowls Houston has raised $1,208,959 for the Houston Food Bank, which equates to more than 3.6 million meals.

The event also includes live music and art demos. More than 2,000 bowls will be available for purchase, donated by area artists.

Empty Bowls began as a grassroots effort started many years ago at a high school in Michigan and is now held all over the world. Nearly everything for Empty Bowls events, from the food served to the venues hosting events and the bowls for sale are donated.

Cori Cryer, a professor of ceramics at Lone Star College Kingwood, is one of those who, along with her students, donated bowls for the fundraiser. She’s been involved with the effort for all of its 20 years in Houston, and before that in other cities.

“When I started donating, I didn't have a whole lot of money,” Cryer tells CultureMap. “I was a graduate student, and so this was a way for me to give back to the local community. And I think my students today kind of recognize that same feel. You know, they may not have money to send a check off to someone, [but this is] an easy way for them to be able to contribute to the community.”

Cryer teaches Ceramics I and Ceramics II to a variety of dual-credit high school students, college students, and continuing education students. Those in her Ceramics II classes are required to create five bowls to donate to Empty Bowls. But her students in her introductory class often end up donating as well. This year, she and her students provided approximately 150 bowls for the event.

Cryer said that the style of bowls for sale range from something as small as a condiment bowl to much larger serving bowls As each bowl is an individual work, they represent a variety of styles and themes. One of her students this year designed a glazed, ceramic leaf-shaped bowl with ceramic insects on it.

“There's a ladybug and a caterpillar and a spider,” she says, each created out of clay and positioned around the bowl.

Cryer loves seeing how the artists use their imaginations and abilities.

“Most of my students do throw their bowls on the pottery wheel, but that's not required,” she says. “They can hand-build them. It’s completely up to them what kind of construction technique they use.”

Cryer loves knowing that this event is a way for students to see that their artistic efforts can have lasting impact on the community around them. In addition to being able to support the Houston Food Bank, the bowls her class donates, she knows, take on special meaning for those who purchase them.

“I tell my students there is a pot for every person and a person for every pot,” she says.

In fact, one of her personal favorite bowls is one she purchased from an Empty Bowls sale.

“It's a very small bowl, maybe like three inches in diameter, and two inches tall, and it's a little pink pig that I think an elementary student made,” she said. “He has no tail, and he has no ears, but he has a snout, and it is definitely a pig. And I love that little bowl. I have it sitting on my desk at home.”

Cryer knows shoppers attending the Empty Bowls sale will find similar, soon-to-be-beloved items.

The Saturday event is free. Those wishing to attend the preview party on Friday, May 15 from 6-8 pm, which offers light bites, beer and wine, and the first chance to purchase bowls, can purchase a $50 ticket online. In addition, Archway Gallery is hosting an exhibition of 30 one-of-a-kind bowls that can be purchased as part of the Empty Bowls fundraiser. The exhibit runs through May 30.