Flying High

Once again, Hurricane Harvey can’t stop the generosity or sink the spirits of arts patrons. The Houston Ballet held its biggest ball ever in a tent outside the Houston Ballet Center for Dance, which was outfitted by The Events Company in contrasting black-and-white floors, linens, centerpieces and chandeliers, nodding to the Swan Lake theme. Chair Hallie Vanderhider also channeled the theme, donning a custom Naeem Khan gown — one of several dresses she wore that night — with a skirt of feathers. Even the food was prepared a la Swan Lake, including a Black & White Deconstructed dessert with chocolate ganache and truffles topped with white cake and white chocolate accents. Thanks to a killer silent auction — two weeks at an Italian villa, anyone? — the Ballet Ball raised a whopping $1.4 million.

Jenny Antill, Priscilla Dickson and Wilson Parish


Shannon Hall, Marcus Sloan, Leigh Smith and Tony Bradfield

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A detail of one of Conley's new metal sculptures

IT’S BEEN A while (2017 to be exact) since we featured Houston metal sculptor Tara Conley in our inaugural A Day in the Life of the Arts photo essay. That image of Conley in her Montrose studio, dressed in jeans, a long-sleeve flannel shirt, and a welders mask, holding a blow torch and staring down the camera while crouched behind one of her elegant steel sculptures, certainly conveyed the “work” that goes into being a “working artist.”

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Art + Entertainment

ANNUALLY ONE OF the city's largest and most successful fundraising fetes, this year's Cattle Baron's Ball surpassed expectations, raising $1.6 million for the American Cancer Society.

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