Photos by Samantha Jane Beatty
Styling by Kate Stukenberg
Grooming by Tonya Riner for Page Parkes Agency
Models Madison Johnston for Wallflower Management and Jake Atterberry for Page Parkes Agency
Photo assistance by John Lewis
Styling assistance by Molly Jodeit
Men’s styling consulting by Cody Sever
and Whitney Wiggins for M Penner
Shot on location at Hotel Alessandra in Downtown
Sarah Fisher
Perhaps best known for her mixed-media portraits of friends, famous figures, and herself created out of hundreds of gold, dry-cleaning identification stickers, some of which appear in poet Robin Davidson’s book Mrs. Schmetterling, Fisher states on her website: “I record the human need to be authentically seen.” (Note: A beautiful painting of a guardian-like horse is included the exhibit. Animals need to be seen too!) The show’s title comes from a majestic self-portrait realized in carved wood, a complex composition of archetypical shapes and ideographic writing evoking the iconography of European and African spiritual practices.
Fisher is a member of the G5 Collective, a Houston-based artist collective co-founded in 2020 by University of Houston MFA graduates Liz Gates and Doug Welsh. Welsh is the curator of It’s OK To Feel This, and in a statement, cites meditation teacher and author Joseph Goldstein as one of Fisher’s key influences. “His mantra ‘It’s okay to feel this,’ has become a tool Fisher repeats in her mind during particularly challenging moments,” Welsh writes. “Through her work as a multidisciplinary artist and mindfulness student, Fisher is learning to sit with all feelings, no matter how difficult, and gently let them go.”
Housed within Holy Family HTX Episcopal Church, Lanecia Rouse Tinsley Gallery is the ideal space for Fisher’s psychologically and spiritually informed art making. In 2022, its inaugural year, the gallery exhibited an impressive range of some of Houston’s most talented artists — including Matt Manalo, Bruce Herman, Anthony Suber and Sara Triana — and presented the first of annual shows of the Holy Family HTX Artists’ Collective. It’s Okay To Feel This is on view Feb. 17 through Mar. 22, 2024.
'It's OK to Feel This'
“The couple, along with their young daughter and extended family, have enjoyed countless memorable moments at Sorrento over the years, making the restaurant an integral part of their lives,” explains a rep.
Successful Natchitoches, Louisiana- and Houston-based lawyer Robert Salim and his biz-savvy wife Melissa scooped up the Westheimer Curve’s 20-year-old Italian stalwart Sorrento Ristorante late last year and, agreeing that the place had great culinary bones, have begun gently tweaking the menu and grand-but-still-inviting interiors.
“We are excited to put our touches on this already well-known, established and reputable restaurant,” says Robert. “Our vision for Sorrento includes enhancing the dining experience while preserving the essence that has made it a beloved destination for over two decades.”
Some adjustments to the classically Italian, unabashedly upscale menu — pasta dishes like braised veal osso buco ravioli and lobster tortellini with lemon cream, and lambchops stuffed with goat cheese and herbs — include expanded salad and dessert sections. The stellar cannoli and cheesecake are made fresh on the premises, as are the lovely options in the bread basket, and all the pasta.
The Salims also beefed up the wine list with some of their favorite bottles, and they secured a pizza oven. “Imagine being an Italian restaurant with no pizza,” muses Robert.
Sorrento is a no-brainer for special occasions and important dinners — with a soundtrack of live tinkling piano, not less — but that’s not all. It’s an ideal option for business lunches, with its buttoned-up, very proper, European-influenced service and graciously spaced-out sitting. No eavesdropping here! The eatery is also getting into the brunch game come March 3; expect a new top-tier player in the elegant upper echelon of Sunday Funday.
