Flying Paint Party
Young professionals take over the City Club, send paint flying in corporate space
An otherwise demure, corporate-ish space tucked away within the corridors of Houston City Club was transformed into a dynamic artsy hub for the Fifth Anniversary ARTcetera soiree on Thursday.
The makeshift fine art workshop, which was covered in swaths of canvas to protect the flooring from all sorts of painting supplies flying through the air, became a temporary atelier for 16 local artists who exposed their creative process live to a curious throng of 200 stylish young professionals. The finished art pieces were offered at auction in support of the Houston chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, of which event emcee-cum-auctioneer Dana Tyson of Sunny 99.1 has been a supporter for more than two decades.
Up for grabs during the live auction portion of the evening were a vibrant acrylic-on-canvas piece created by five-time ARTcetera participant Taft McWhorter; a mixed-media bricolage from Edgar Medina's Freedom series; a large painting of a cowboy boot courtesy of William H. Miller, who challenged himself to sketch one boot every day for a year (he's on number 213); and an avant-garde piece by Zachary Hunt in which he used metal shavings shaped with resin, complemented by various paints applied wildly atop a thick panel.
Digging deep into their pockets to claim one of these featured collectibles were Amy Rozzell, Joe Francisco, KC Gifford and Tyson — the happy gal just couldn't help herself.
Amid contemporary tunes spun by DJ Status and light bites provided by Houston City Club, savvy and neophyte art collectors also scored fetching works by artists Clara K. Johnson, Sydney Meyer, Sonya Cuellar and Micah Simmons via the silent auction.
Arting the night away alongside host committee members Laura LaRue, Timothy White, Chryl Hoz, Al Gearing, Lauren Croucher and Cassie Hoz were Allan Rodewald, James Phelan, Deborah Elias, Dana McWhorter, Natalie Solomon, Ashlee Lee, Alex Vila, Kellyn Jezierski, Shadi Shambayati, Brent Eidson, Stephen Brooks, Joel Ray and Angelique Cook.