Texas Art Force Returns to Partying With Several Creative Twists — Glasstire Keeps It Edgy

Texas-founded arts website (one of America’s first online arts magazines) Glasstire hosted its first party in three years in Houston. The award-winning art force’s Roaring Twenties bash, scheduled for March 2020, was a victim of the pandemic. The eagerly awaited evening for the art set took place in the edgy east downtown venue dubbed The Space HTX.

The clever, well attended benefit — a throng of collectors, gallerists and artists flocked to it — marked the nonprofit’s most successful fundraiser since its founding in 2001. The impactful fête honored a power couple of the arts — Julie Kinzelman of Kinzelman Art Consulting and Christopher Tribble, co-founder of TYArt.

The well-connected quartet of Liz and David Anders, and Lindsay Davis and Joseph Cohen stepped up to chair the record-setting benefit, which filled Glasstire’s coffers with more than $198,000, thanks to benevolent sponsors and a lively silent auction. More than 30 Texas-based talents contributed artworks, while Glasstire gave back 50 percent of each work’s proceeds to every artist (the artists also received a comp pair of party tickets), all in keeping with the nonprofit’s artist-focused mission.

Paintings from Dallas-based artists Zeke Williams and Riley Holloway were the top lots, respectively Grand Wash, Capitol Reef, 2021, and Surround Yourself with Legends, 2022. Each work generated more than $4,000 for the cause, while finding new homes with astute collectors.

For music, DJ iPod Ammo took the stage. Little Kitchen HTX curated hors d’oeuvres and cuisine, while spirits from Tito’s Handmade Vodka, a sponsor, kept the vibe flowing. Revelers also partook of the night’s specialty cocktail, a hibiscus margarita, which matched the color scheme of the event, and was devised by the chairs and Glasstire’s multi-talented publisher Brandon Zech.

Alton DuLaney, Anthony Bob

Social Canvas: Glasstire founder Rainey Knudson; party underwriters Jereann Chaney and daughter Holland Chaney; eponymous gallerists Kerry Inman, Sarah Foltz, Laura Rathe, Erin Dorn and Sharon Graham of McClain Gallery; John Roberson and John Blackmon in from Austin; Brianne Strong and James Pattison in from Dallas; Mrs. and Mr. Pop Art Dorene and Frank Herzog; Julia and John Stallcup; Yvette and Scott Hill; Andrew Raab in from Los Angeles; Leigh and Reggie Smith; Heidi and David Gerger; and Houston’s own Medici, Lester Marks.

Also making the scene: MFAH curator Alison de Lima Greene, Lucy Anderson and Jeff Shore, Allison and Patrick Miller, David Crabtree, Gury and Pratik Doshi, Dacia and Robert Gonzales, Bethany and Chad Pedley, Glasstire board prez Kathryn McDougal and partner Matt Fries, Eleanor Williams, and Rockport Center for the Arts executive director Luis Puron and board member Lucy Nye.

More acolytes of art who attended included Megan and Jeff Miller, Glasstire board member Gillian Sarofim, Sloan Crady, Frances Lummis, Louisa Lummis, Maggie Lummis, Harris Lummis, Wilson Griffith, Sir Mark Haukohl, Christina Girard, Mary and Bernie Arocha with daughter Lauren; joined by a cache of artists in attendance including auction headliners Orna Feinstein, John Forse, Bradley Kerl, Alexis Pye, Bill Willis, David Politzer, and Rachel Livedalen in from Fort Worth.