Quick on their feet, the Houston Arts Alliance crew decided that moving this party from the Buffalo Bayou Silos to Houston Makerspace was the right thing to do as precipitation threatened to rain on this social parade. And so the mix-and-mingle "Iluminación: A Bayou Bash" soirée on Friday went on indoors as though that had been intended all along.
The neat thing was, as HAA's Transported + Renewed project hoped when it focused its energies on spotlighting the cultural provenance of Houston's East Downtown, the change of location introduced some 200 partygoers to an EaDo workshop lab where anything is possible — with a little elbow grease.
As sparks flew when a couple of artists welded an unrelated HAA-funded art project, vibrant contemporary time lapse projections by Pablo Gimenez Zapiola dazzled in a raw ambiance itching with creative possibilities. Sharon Engelstein's kooky and inflatable Whatever Floats sculpture proved to be a charming backdrop for selfies and group shots. Adding to the gritty milieu were on trend tunes courtesy of DJ Sun.
Chairs Tatiana and Craig Massey, Jessica Crute and Eduardo Garza, and Heath LaPray and Travis Torrence orchestrated the scene that included indoor open bars stocked with bevs by Deep Eddy Vodka, Monkey Shoulder Scotch, Hendrick's Gin, Saint Arnold Brewing Co., SlimRitas and Barefoot Wine. Food trucks GastroPunk, Nom Mi Street, The Golden Grill and Porch Swing Desserts had plenty to share with the chatty throng.
Enjoying this pop up environment with HAA president and CEO Jonathon Glus and Folklife + Traditional Arts director Pat Jasper were Minnette Boesel, Diane Barber and Karen Niemeier, John Bradshaw Jr., Mark Horn, John Smither, John Salinardo and Yvette and Scott Hill.
Minnette Boesel and Angel Quesada.
