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    Blue Dog Night

    It's a Blue Dog night at pop-up gallery party honoring work of legendary Louisiana artist

    Clifford Pugh
    Apr 28, 2015 | 3:27 pm

    A celebrity "blue" carpet lined the second floor of West Ave and most of the well-dressed guests wore blue, which made perfect sense at the "Rodrigue: Houston" champagne preview party.

     

    A who's who of Houston fans of artist George Rodrigue filled the former St. Genevieve lounge space to celebrate a retrospective featuring the work of the renowned Cajun and Blue Dog artist. Honorary chair Susan Sarofim and chairs Dr. Roland Maldonado and Edward Sanchez welcomed more than 300 guests to view 75 works of original art by Rodrigue, including the artist's dark Louisiana landscapes, Cajun genre scenes and iconic Blue Dog paintings, spanning a 50-year period.

     

    Rodrigue passed away in 2013 and his son, Jacques Rodrigue, told the crowd about the work of the George Rodrigue Foundation for the Arts that funds art programs in Louisiana and Texas schools. The evening brought in $35,000 to directly benefit the foundation's Arts in Education programs at 50 Houston schools.

     

    As Al Campbell's Westbury High School Jazz Band and Mike Owens' New Orleans Jazz Trio performed, guests nibbled on Louisiana-inspired light bites from Ruth's Chris Catering and marveled at original works from the collections of the Rodrigue family, former president George H.W. Bush and Houston art collector Don Sanders, who owns a large number of Rodrigue's artwork.

     

    Jacques Rodrigue presented Sanders with a special pair of sunglasses with a Blue Dog embossed on each lens to thank him for his support and to tout a new book, Rodrigue: The Sanders Collection, which was unveiled at the party. Each guest was given a lapel pin of a blue dog with a Texas state flag scarf around its neck. Guests also bid on rare, out-of-circulation Rodrigue artwork in the silent auction and sampled a "Blue Dog" inspired cake, donated by Jerald Aguilar of What's the Occasion Creative Cakery.

     

    Seen in the crowd were Susan Fowler, Terry Hamman, Laura Sanders, Education Outreach underwriters Tyson Dunn and Jana and Richard Fant, host committee members Carrie Colbert, Carolyn Farb, Debbie and Rudy Festari, Debra and Mark Grierson, George Lancaster, Patti and Don Murphy and Kristi Schiller.

     

    Other guests included Mallory Page Rodrigue, Scott Miller, Tina and Fikri Ozcelik, Nicole and James Lassite, Jo and Jim Furr, Monte Stavis, John De La Cruz and Patrick Palmer, and Yuni and JJ Paufigues, who loaned Rodrigue's "Take Me Back To Texas" from their collection.

     

    The pop-up gallery featuring Rodrigue's work will be on display in Houston through July 5 in the West Ave location. It is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sunday from noon - 5 p.m., and Monday by appointment.

    Jacques Rodrigue, left, with Don Sanders, who tries on a special pair of Blue Dog sunglasses

    Blue Dog West Ave event April 2015
      
    Photo by Ray Redding
    Jacques Rodrigue, left, with Don Sanders, who tries on a special pair of Blue Dog sunglasses
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    Silk and Sequins

    Cultural fashion takes center stage at Runway to Asia in Houston

    Joel Luks
    Jul 10, 2025 | 12:30 pm
    Asia Society Runway to Asia fashion show 2025
    Photo by Annie Mulligan
    Rekha Muddaraj, Shazia Sultan, Danny Nguyen, Zang Toi, Bonna Kol, Phoebe Tudor, and Leigh Smith.

    If fashion is a language, Runway to Asia spoke it fabulously fluently.

    The ballroom of The Post Oak Hotel shimmered with silk, sequins, and sartorial splendor as Asia Society Texas debuted its first-ever Runway to Asia style-studded affair — a glamorous gala-meets-catwalk moment where heritage was hand-stitched into haute couture.

    More than 300 guests filled the swanky venue for the event, greeted by models perched like living mannequins in Danny Nguyen’s Fall/Winter 2025 collection, each ensemble a fabric-forward love letter to cultural identity and avant-garde vision. This was a glamnifesto on what it means to wear your roots with pride and purpose.

    Leading the stylish charge were co-chairs Leigh Smith, Shazia Sultan, and Phoebe Tudor, who curated the afternoon like seasoned couturiers. Attendees noshed on a three-course lunch before the real feast began: a full-throttle catwalk presentation honoring two design dynamos — Danny Nguyen, Houston’s own silhouettist supreme, and international fashion luminary Zang Toi.

    Rekha Muddaraj, former KHOU 11 anchor turned emcee extraordinaire, welcomed the crowd with poise, passing the mic to Asia Society Texas president Bonna Kol, who framed the gathering as more than just fashion, but part of the nonprofit’s mission to celebrate cultural diversity through art.

    The applause crescendoed when Michael Buening, the organization’s director of performing arts and culture, announced the event had raised more than $300,000 to fund more than 20 annual programs.

    Pro tip: philanthropy always looks better in couture.

    Then came the honors. Nguyen was honored with the Texas Trendsetter Award, praised by Shazia Sultan for blending traditional elegance with avant-glam silhouettes. Meanwhile, Tudor crowned Toi with the Global Icon Award, charting his runway rise from Malaysia to Manhattan.

    Toi’s “Opulence of the Orient Express” collection brought the house down with 37 jaw-dropping looks: Ottoman-inspired caftans, midnight velvet suits, pearl-dusted evening gowns, and coat-dress hybrids that defied the laws of layering. Each ensemble whispered luxury and screamed craftsmanship.

    The raffle added a thrill of retail roulette with prizes including a luxe Hill Country escape, personal styling sessions with the honorees, and golden tickets to Zang Toi’s Fall 2026 New York show.

    Soaking in the scene were Sushila Agrawal, Nancy Allen, Fady Armanious, Kristy Bradshaw, Divya Brown, Tripp Carter, Theresa Chang, Anne Chao, Molly Crownover, Kari Dagley, Chloe Dao, Debbie Festari, Kathy and Marty Goossen, Brigitte Kalai, Mandy Kao, Sippi Khurana, Karen Kwok, Teri Lee, Kelley Lubanko, Christy Lynn, Petra Martinez, Sneha Merchant, Duyen Nguyen, Cabrina Owsley, Akemi Saitoh, Miya Shay, Sue and Randy Sim, Shawn Stephens, Y. Ping Sun, Ileana Trevino, Janae Tsai, Stephanie Tsuru, Heidi Turney, and Asha Virani.

    Asia Society Runway to Asia fashion show 2025
      

    Photo by Annie Mulligan

    Rekha Muddaraj, Shazia Sultan, Danny Nguyen, Zang Toi, Bonna Kol, Phoebe Tudor, and Leigh Smith.

    fundraisersasia society texas centerfashion show
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